EDMONTON — The Golden Knights flipped the script on the NHL’s comeback kids Saturday night at Rogers Place.
Vegas rallied from an early two-goal deficit to beat Edmonton 4-3 for its first win of the second-round series on a buzzer-beating goal by Reilly Smith with 0.4 seconds left in the game. It came after Connor McDavid tied the game for the Oilers with just over three minutes to play.
The win cuts Edmonton’s series lead to 2-1, with the home team yet to win in the series.
Corey Perry delivered a perfect start for the Oilers with two goals in the first nine minutes of the game. The 39-year-old showed he still has the scoring touch to open the scoring with a perfectly placed wrist shot in transition after McDavid delayed and found him trailing on the play.
Minutes later, Perry fought his way to the front of the Vegas net on an Edmonton power play, and deflected a shot from Evan Bouchard past Adin Hill to make it 2-0.
Vegas responded quickly with two goals in under a minute to tie it 2-2 heading into the first intermission. Nicolas Roy took advantage of a flubbed rebound by Stuart Skinner in front of the Edmonton net, then Smith walked in and deked around Skinner 54 seconds later.
William Karlsson gave Vegas the lead late in the second period, and the Golden Knights locked down defensively in the third period, allowing only 20 shots total in the game.
After allowing two goals on the first four shots, Hill found his rhythm. On the other end, Skinner struggled in his first start in seven games, allowing four goals on 24 shots in relief of Calvin Pickard, who was injured in Game 2.
Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb surprised many by playing after leaving with an injury late in Game 2 and missing morning skate on Saturday. He gave the Golden Knights 19 minutes and held his own in several tough net-front battles.
This is the second time the Golden Knights have won Game 3 after falling behind 2-0 in a playoff series. They also did it against Colorado in 2021, and proceeded to win the next three games to eliminate the Avalanche 4-2 in the second round.
Stuart Skinner not up to snuff in return
The way Pickard was backstopping the Oilers to six straight wins — the last of which had his coach feeling he “stole” for the team — Skinner was in tough to get back in the net. The only real path for the Oilers’ third-year No. 1 goalie to reclaim his job was if Pickard sustained an injury.
Well, that’s exactly what happened as Pickard, despite finishing a 5-4 overtime win in Game 2, was too hurt to make his seventh consecutive start. And, though Skinner had some solid moments in his return, he wasn’t good enough as he allowed four goals on 24 shots.
On the first Golden Knights goal, he couldn’t handle a shot from Nicolas Hague, which caused a rebound to sit free for an unchecked Nicolas Roy. He made no mistake to get Vegas on the board and cut Edmonton’s lead in half at 15:17 of the first period.
Smith tied the score 54 seconds later on a chance in close after he walked around Oilers winger Vasily Podkolzin. Smith finished off the play by tucking the puck through Skinner’s legs.
Skinner made a couple of big stops on Tomas Hertl in the second period, including on a wraparound, but he couldn’t squeeze an attempt from Karlsson off a rush. That gave the Golden Knights their first advantage of the game.
And then there was the jaw-dropping game-winning goal.
Things didn’t go well for Skinner the last time these two teams met in the playoffs in 2023. He was pulled in three of his last four starts and sported an .875 save percentage in the six-game series won by Vegas. He had rebounded nicely since then against the Golden Knights, posting a .914 save percentage in six starts.
It’s safe to say, though, Saturday’s work was more reminiscent of those postseason struggles than the regular season turnaround.
Line consistency finally ends — and with success
Save for a couple of tweaks here and there, the Oilers had used the same top six since the third period of their Game 4 comeback win over the Kings and the same lines since Game 5.
Well, that finally came to an end on Saturday. The first and second trios got a makeover heading into the third period with the Oilers down a goal.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zach Hyman reassumed their customary positions on McDavid’s wings. Meanwhile, McDavid’s recent usual linemates, Draisaitl and Perry, were moved down to the second line. There, Draisaitl centered Perry and Evander Kane.
More shifting came in the back half of the frame. The Oilers reloaded their top line with Hyman instead of Perry. With Draisaitl back with McDavid, Nugent-Hopkins centered Kane and Perry (and also Viktor Arvidsson).
The second set of changes worked out as McDavid banked a puck off McNabb’s stick and by Hill with 3:02 remaining in the third to tie the game.
The Oilers were due for some sort of shakeup. They generated little after Perry’s two first-period goals and had just 20 shots on net.
Draisaitl, in particular, had a rough night. He failed to capitalize on a beautiful feed from McDavid in the first period when he hit the crossbar. Overall, he managed just two assists. To make matters worse, a turnover at the offensive blue line led to the first goal against and a poor line change was partially to blame for the Golden Knights getting an odd-man rush and Karlsson scoring the go-ahead goal.
And that was before knocking Smith’s shot into the net before the buzzer.
Unearthing the Worm
Check your calendars to make sure it’s not 2011. Because it sure felt like it based on the way Perry played in the first period.
Perry scored twice before the game was 12 minutes old and showcased some of the traits those around him recently raved about in the process.
Midway through the Los Angeles series, Draisaitl lauded Perry’s ability to “read the play before it happens” and the way he can “maneuver himself into situations to be successful.” Perry did all that on his first goal. He found open ice inside the Golden Knights zone, accepted a pass from McDavid, clutched to get around Ivan Barbashev and then shot against the grain on Hill, who went down early.
Less than four minutes later, Perry scored on the power play. Perry’s gotten more time on the top unit over Hyman because Knoblauch said during the Kings matchup that he values the veteran’s “touch and fitness.” Those skills were on display when he tipped in Evan Bouchard’s point shot.
The way Perry has been able to keep up and mesh with McDavid and Draisaitl on the top line for a good portion of these playoffs — albeit while ceding time to Hyman and Kane — has been so helpful to the Oilers. His play is part of the reason why the coaching staff has been able to use the dynamic duo together so much and still have a balanced lineup.
Perry now has five goals in nine playoff games, following his 19-goal effort in 81 regular-season contests. Oh, and he turns 40 on Friday.
Vegas loses its captain early
Golden Knights winger Mark Stone exited the game after only six shifts and never returned. He lost an edge in the neutral zone and collided with Perry on his way down, but played three more shifts before exiting for the final time with 6:20 left in the first period.
Stone was subsequently ruled out with an upper-body injury, forcing the Golden Knights to play the remaining two periods with 11 forwards. It’s obviously a massive loss for Vegas. Stone was second on the team in points in both the regular season (67 points) and the playoffs (eight points).
Stone scored twice in Game 1 of this series and played a factor in all three of Vegas’ goals that night. In Game 2, he picked up another two assists, tying him with Jack Eichel for the most points by any player in the series. He’s the team’s emotional leader, plays tough matchups and even strength and is a key piece of both special teams.
William Karlsson’s big night
With their backs against the proverbial ropes, the Golden Knights needed a standout performance from a star player and Karlsson was their best player for most of the night. The center gave Vegas its first lead late in the second period on a beautiful give-and-go with Noah Hanifin in transition capped off by a great shot by Karlsson that beat Skinner to the short side.
As is usually the case for Karlsson, he was as impressive without the puck as he was with it. He hounded Edmonton’s stars defensively, buzzing around the ice, forcing turnovers in the neutral zone and winning puck battles along the boards.
Karlsson created opportunities for his linemates with regularity and could’ve had an even bigger night if they finished a couple more chances. He was so good defensively that with the last change, Knoblauch avoided the matchup with Karlsson for his stars. McDavid played less than three minutes of even-strength time against Karlsson, while Draisaitl played six and a half minutes against him.
Especially if Stone is going to miss time, the Golden Knights will rely heavily on Karlsson moving forward in this series.
(Photo: Leila Devlin / Getty Images)
