Reilly Smith scored his second goal of the game in the final second of regulation, giving the visiting Vegas Golden Knights a shocking 4-3 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday in Game 3 of their Western Conference second-round series.
With overtime looming after the Oilers erased yet another third-period deficit with a late goal, Smith sent a puck to the front of the net in desperation and it banked into the cage off Leon Draisaitl’s stick with 0.4 seconds remaining.
“That was one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen in a hockey game,” Vegas defenseman Nicolas Hague said.
“I was sure it was in, but I saw the ref waive it off and it gave me some doubt,” teammate William Karlsson said in a Sportsnet interview. “But I saw the bench celebrate and that was a great feeling.”
The goal is the third-latest game-winning goal in Stanley Cup history. Nazem Kadri scored with one second remaining for the Colorado Avalanche in 2020, and Jussi Jokinen (Carolina Hurricanes) scored with 0.2 seconds in the game in 2009.
“It stings,” Edmonton’s Draisaitl said. “It’s an unfortunate way to lose but take stock and move on.”
Vegas, after losing the first two games at home, trails the best-of-seven set 2-1 and will try to pull even on Monday in Game 4 at Edmonton.
Nicolas Roy and Karlsson also scored for Vegas, while goaltender Adin Hill made 17 saves.
Corey Perry scored twice and Connor McDavid netted one goal and one assist for the Oilers, who saw their six-game winning streak snapped. Stuart Skinner, who started in goal after Calvin Pickard was sidelined due to an injury suffered in the previous game, stopped 20 shots.
“Devastating, but things happen. Good bounces, tough bounces happen for everybody, so just move forward,” Skinner said. “We’re still up by one, so it’s our job to show up again the next night, try our hardest and make this thing 3-1.”
It was yet another roller coaster of a game.
Perry staked the Oilers to a 2-0 lead with a pair of goals. He opened the scoring at 7:19 by taking a pass in the high slot during a rush, patiently working toward the net and converting a wrist shot. His power-play goal four minutes later — a nifty redirect of the point shot — doubled the lead.
However, the Golden Knights pulled even with a pair of goals 54 seconds apart before the first intermission. Roy, who received only a fine for his cross-checking major penalty last game, put his club on the board at 15:17 by chipping home a rebound.
Smith tied the clash right after when he split the defenders and calmly lifted a backhand on the deke.
Karlsson gave Vegas its first lead of the game at 17:05 of the second. During an odd-man rush, Karlson played give-and-go with Noah Hanifin and slipped home a short-side shot to make it a 3-2 game.
“That’s not the way we play. We’re normally a forechecking team and we didn’t have it,” Perry said. “It’s probably more deflating losing the way we did and not getting to overtime, but it’s happened twice to us in these playoffs. Just use it as motivation.”
McDavid again tied the game at 3-3 with 3:02 remaining in regulation when his cross-crease feed banked off the skate of Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb and into the net.
Vegas captain Mark Stone left the game due to an upper-body injury suffered late in the first period. During one of his final shifts, Stone lost his footing as he tried to make a sharp turn while attempting to play the puck, and he fell. Perry inadvertently skated into him. It appeared either Perry’s skate hit Stone’s hand or his leg hit his arm.
-Field Level Media
