‘One of the craziest things I’ve ever seen’: Last-second goal lifts Knights

EDMONTON, Alberta — The only one who thought it went in was Reilly Smith.

He initially started to celebrate, then waited for the replay to come up on the video monitors that showed it in real time on the benches.

Once he and his teammates got a view — and after video coach Dave Rogowski confirmed it — the Golden Knights flooded over the bench and mobbed one another for the final image in one of the more improbable finishes in franchise history.

And, quite possibly, a season-saving victory.

Smith scored his second goal of the game with 0.4 seconds remaining off a turnover forced by center William Karlsson behind the net, and the Knights found a way for an unlikely 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of their second-round series Saturday at Rogers Place.

“That’s one of the craziest things I’ve ever seen in a hockey game,” defenseman Nic Hague said.

Smith gathered the loose puck in the slot, cut to the left side of the cage to evade Oilers captain Connor McDavid and defenseman Darnell Nurse, got around goaltender Stuart Skinner and threw the puck at the net.

The puck deflected off Oilers left wing Leon Draisaitl’s stick, past the goal line and off the camera inside the net.

“The fractions of a second can break your heart, or do the opposite,” coach Bruce Cassidy said.

It started with the forecheck by Karlsson, who won the race to the puck behind the net and chipped it back to the slot where Smith was waiting.

Karlsson carried the puck into the neutral zone with seven seconds to go. He chipped it to Smith with 3.5 seconds remaining.

“Honestly, I’ve seen Karl use that play a few times where he forechecks and spins it out in front of the net,” Smith said. “I was just trying to get there as fast as possible.

“Karl does such a good job hunting pucks and being first on it. I thought there was a chance. Once it popped out, I saw a lot of guys sell out. I just hoped that I had enough time to pump-fake, find a lane, and it worked out.”

What will go down as the third-latest game-winning regulation goal in playoff history has saved the Knights’ season. The Oilers lead the best-of-seven series 2-1 with Game 4 in Edmonton at 6:30 p.m. Monday.

Karlsson and center Nicolas Roy scored, and goaltender Adin Hill made 17 saves as the Knights rallied from 2-0 down in the first period — and survived a game-tying goal from McDavid with 3:02 remaining — to get them on the board in this series.

“Fortunate to get a break there because, in reality, they got a break on the third goal,” Cassidy said. “So, I guess the hockey gods evened some things out.”

Rowdy scene

The atmosphere, as expected, was electric.

Fans were chanting outside Rogers Place two hours before the puck was dropped. The thousands draped in blue and orange garb had been anxiously waiting for a reason to cheer their team, which took a 2-0 series lead in Las Vegas.

Orange rally towels waved feverishly as the Oilers took to the ice to “Enter Sandman” by Metallica. Fans, following the first verse of the Canadian national anthem, sang without the assistance of the arena’s anthem singer.

That began a nightmarish start for the Knights.

Edmonton jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to two goals from 39-year-old right wing Corey Perry at 7:19 and then 11:12 on the power play.

It was the first time this series the Oilers scored the first goal of the game, as well as their first power-play goal in six tries.

Knights captain Mark Stone left with 6:20 remaining in the first period with an upper-body injury and did not return. Cassidy said Stone is day-to-day.

With their captain out, the Knights made their response.

It took 54 seconds for the Knights to break the game even. Roy scored on a rebound at 15:17, then Smith received a pass from center Jack Eichel, dangled through the Edmonton defense and beat Skinner five-hole with a backhand at 16:11 to tie it 2-2.

“I think it’s just something we’ve always kind of had in us,” Hague said. “No matter what happens, super high or super low moments, I think we do a good job staying even-keeled and knowing we’re never out of it.”

Stone’s absence forced the Knights to roll with makeshift lines throughout the second period. No center had the same two wingers at certain times. With 2:55 left in the second period, Karlsson centered a line with Smith and left wing Tanner Pearson that generated one of the Knights’ best shifts of the game.

It ended with Karlsson gathering a loose puck in the neutral zone, carrying it for a give-and-go with defenseman Noah Hanifin and finishing a one-timer that trickled by Skinner for a 3-2 lead.

“We just stuck with our game,” Hanifin said. “We knew coming into this building, it was going to be loud and they were going to be coming pretty hard. After they scored those few goals, we managed it, settled it down and got to our game.”

McNabb’s surprise return

A buzzer-beating goal to win the game was the only event that could overtake what was the Knights’ biggest news of the night.

Defenseman Brayden McNabb, who left in overtime of Game 2 on Thursday with an upper-body injury that put his status for the series in doubt, was the last Knights player to take the ice for warmups.

Less than two days after being injured from a missed tripping call on Oilers right wing Viktor Arvidsson, McNabb had an assist in 19:39.

That assist was the breakout that sprung Karlsson on the forecheck to set up Smith for the winning goal.

McNabb didn’t take part in morning skate. Cassidy didn’t want him to skate to put him through anymore physical activity.

“Give it an extra seven hours, put him out there for warmups,” Cassidy said. “Happy to have him back. When it happened, we weren’t sure. It didn’t look good, but worked out OK for him.”

The Oilers had been the comeback kings for the past two weeks. They entered Saturday winners of six straight, all in come-from-behind fashion.

It was the Knights’ turn this time. They’ve gone through a wide range of emotions the past 24 hours — between center Nicolas Roy avoiding a suspension, to getting McNabb back, to losing Stone for two periods — all for an improbable finish.

The Knights were in trouble 24 hours ago. They’ve now found new life.

“We’re confident in here,” Hanifin said. “We know we’re right in this thing right now. It’s a long series.”

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.