Reilly Smith on Friday scored the winner with seven minutes left in regulation, as the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 to grab a 3-1 Western Conference Finals lead.
“Winnipeg comes in waves, but [Marc-Andre Fleury] made huge saves, our defense did a good job and thank God we were able to get three past them,” Smith said.
The Knights have won three straight games after dropping the series opener and now have a chance to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals in their inaugural season with a victory today in Winnipeg.
Photo: AFP
Smith took advantage of a miscue by Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien at the Knights’ blue line. He then raced down the left wing and snapped a shot over the shoulder and off the crossbar against Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck to break a 2-2 tie with 6 minutes, 58 seconds left in third period.
William Karlsson and Tomas Nosek also scored, while goaltender Fleury stopped 36 shots for the Knights, who improved to 6-1 at home in their first ever post-season.
“I am just living in the moment,” Karlsson said. “This is the time of my life.”
Photo: AFP
The Jets out-shot Vegas 37-29 and controlled much of the play, but still came out with the loss.
Vegas were 500-1 betting underdogs to win the Stanley Cup to begin the season and are now just one victory away from the Finals.
Friday was a must-win for the Jets, as teams that take a 3-1 series lead have gone on to win the series more than 90 percent of the time.
Finland’s Patrik Laine scored the first goal for Winnipeg in the second period to tie it 1-1. He finished with a game-high seven shots for the Jets, who had been getting most of their scoring in the series so far from one player: Canada’s Mark Scheifele.
Scheifele had five shots, but failed to get anything past Fleury.
“We win that game nine times out of 10,” Winnipeg winger Blake Wheeler said. “Tonight was the one. Had some looks where [Fleury] made extraordinary saves. You’ve got to sometimes take your hat off to a good player stealing a game.”
Vegas have won games by not giving the Jets any breathing room. On Friday, Laine’s goal on the power play was followed 43 seconds later by a Knights goal.
Czech forward Nosek redeemed himself by coming out of the box and banging one home from in close to restore the Knights’ lead at 2-1.
It was the first goal of the playoffs for Nosek, who in October last year scored the franchise’s first goal on home ice.
If the Golden Knights win the series, they would join the 1967-1968 St Louis Blues as only NHL expansion teams in the modern era to reach the Finals.
Unlike the Knights, the Blues had a much easier road, as they were part of a new division made up entirely of expansion teams. The Blues ended up being swept in four games by the Montreal Canadiens.
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