The Las Vegas Golden Knights are on the board against the Edmonton Oilers. It took one of the most dramatic games of the NHL playoffs to get there.
With time ticking toward overtime in a must-win Game 3, with the Oilers leading 2-0, the Golden Knights got the puck where they needed, in the hands of the player they needed, with the bounce they needed to steal their first win of the series.
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It was Reilly Smith with the game-winning goal with 0.4 seconds left, with assists from William Karlsson, Brayden McNabb and, unfortunately, Oilers star Leon Draisaitl, whose stick was in the worst possible place in the worst possible time.
The goal was initially waved off with the ref thinking it didn’t cross the plane, but replay show it clearly hit the camera inside the goal. The result was a 4-3 Golden Knights win, and a stunned Rogers Place crowd.
Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the goal was the third-latest regulation game-winner in playoff history, behind only Nazem Kadri in 2020 (0.1 seconds left) and Jussi Jokinen in 2009 (0.2 seconds).
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Even Smith wasn’t sure what happened, as he told the “NHL on TNT” panel after the game:
“From my angle, it seemed like it hit the middle bar, but it came out so fast and I wasn’t really sure if the time expired,” Smith told the NHL on TNT panel postgame. “And then I take a peek at the ref, and he’s telling me, ‘It didn’t go in,’ so just fortunate we were able to get something with time running down there.”
It took plenty of effort for the Golden Knights just to get to a point where a miracle goal could win the game for them. The Oilers were up 2-0 in both game and series after 12 minutes on Saturday, but Vegas responded with goals from Smith and Nicolas Roy within a minute of each other at the end of the first period.
The Knights took a lead on a Karlsson goal late in the second period, only to lose the lead on a would-be gut punch from Connor McDavid with three minutes left. And then, Smith.
Even Reilly Smith wasn’t sure what happened at the end of Game 3 of Golden Knights-Oilers. (Photo by Leila Devlin/Getty Images)
(Leila Devlin via Getty Images)
Smith made his return to Vegas at the trade deadline this season, coming over from the New York Rangers in exchange for Brendan Brisson and a third-round pick. He previously played six seasons with the Knights, reaching the 2018 Stanley Cup finals in the team’s inaugural season, and winning his first championship in 2023.
Game 4 is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET on Monday in Edmonton.
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