The Vegas Golden Knights are back in the hunt in their Stanley Cup playoff series, thanks to their last-second victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3.
Now the Golden Knights can regain home-ice advantage with a win in Monday’s Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinal series in Edmonton.
Edmonton leads the best-of-seven affair 2-1, but the Golden Knights are coming off a thrilling 4-3 victory on Saturday when Reilly Smith scored the winner with 0.4 seconds on the clock.
His shot from a sharp angle was accidentally redirected into the open net by Oilers superstar Leon Draisaitl.
While that was a fortunate turn of events, the Golden Knights feel good about their play in the last three games and believe they are heading into Game 4 with plenty to build upon.
“We’re doing things better than we did in Game 1, so that’s where we can build our momentum,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said after Sunday’s optional practice. “We understand how our game’s getting better.… We have to keep that mentality against a good offensive club.”
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The road team has won every game so far in this series between Pacific Division rivals.
Cassidy said captain Mark Stone was “day-to-day” due to the upper-body injury he suffered in the first period of Saturday’s clash that sidelined him most of the game.
“He’s doing all right,” the coach said. “Hopefully he’s better [Monday] and ready to go.”
Regardless of whether Stone returns, the quest remains the same.
“We snuck out a win and now we need to try and get one more to even things up,” said Golden Knights defenceman Brayden McNabb.
Golden Knights forward Brandon Saad, who missed last game due to a lower-body injury, is also day-to-day, according to Cassidy.
As disheartening as Saturday’s setback was for Edmonton — which erased a third-period deficit with a late goal and was poised to head into overtime — the Oilers have plenty of reason to feel confident.
Edmonton, which had a six-game winning streak snapped with the setback, remains in control of the series and has a chance to take a stranglehold.
“We’re up 2-1 and probably shouldn’t be up 2-1,” Oilers forward Zach Hyman said on Sunday. “If we were up 3-0, it would have been great, but I think we’re in a good spot.”
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On the flip side, the Oilers admit they stole the Game 2 victory despite being outplayed for much of the game and were again outplayed for a great deal of Saturday’s clash.
“That’s the playoffs,” said Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse. “We know we’ve got to be better in certain situations. It’s a big game coming up.”
Even so, momentum rarely means much from game to game. The Oilers know the past means little going forward.
“You just have to have a short-term memory,” said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch. “I was with this team last year and my only experience in the NHL playoffs was last year and this year, and whatever happened the night before — whether it was a win or a loss — you just have to put that aside.”
Knoblauch said Stuart Skinner is slated to start in goal a second consecutive game with Calvin Pickard still unable to play due to the lower-body injury suffered in Game 2.
