Former Rangers forward’s last-second heroics may have saved Golden Knights’ season
One of the reasons the New York Rangers acquired Reilly Smith last offseason was for his championship pedigree and success in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Simply, he’d built a reputation as a big-game player in more than 100 postseason contests.
Those attributes were on full display Saturday night in the second round of the playoffs. But the Rangers weren’t the ones benefitting, of course, since they’re at home watching the postseason after failing to make the playoffs for the first time in four seasons.
Smith was moved to the Vegas Golden Knights ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline, and he may have just saved their season Saturday. The 34-year-old became the third player in NHL history to score a go-ahead goal in the final second of regulation to lift the Golden Knights to a 4-3 win in Game 3 of the Western Conference Second Round against the Edmonton Oilers.
Had they lost, the Golden Knights would’ve slipped into an 0-3 hole in the best-of-7 series. They lost the first two games at home before Smith’s heroics saved them in Edmonton.
The former Rangers forward scored with 0.4 seconds remaining in regulation. He joined Nazem Kadri of the Colorado Avalanche (0.1 seconds remaining on Aug. 2, 2020), and Jussi Jokinen of the Carolina Hurricanes (0.2 seconds remaining on April 21, 2009) as the only players credited with a game-winning goal in the final second of a playoff game.
After taking a William Karlsson pass in the slot in the dying seconds, Smith faked a shot, danced around two Oilers and took a bad-angle shot from left wing with goalie Stuart Skinner out to challenge him. This is where Smith — and the Golden Knights — caught a big break. The puck was going to slide through the crease, but it hit the stick of a back-checking Leon Draisaitl and into the net.
“Sometimes you just hope for the best and that one seemed to work out,” Smith said. “Thankfully I had enough time.”
The play began when Karlsson controlled the puck behind the net and spun it into the slot, where Smith grabbed it.
“I think there was about seven seconds, and I just tried to get there as fast as possible,” Smith said. “’Karl’ does a good job of hunting pucks and being the first on it and once it popped out, I saw a lot of guys sell out, so I just hoped I had enough time to kind of pump fake and find a line and it worked out.
“I think if I try to shoot that, it’s getting stopped if not by the first guy or the second guy or the goalie. Sometimes you just hope for the best and that one seemed to work out, thankfully I had enough time.”
Referee Garrett Rank originally waved the goal off, but that on-ice decision was quickly reversed after a video review.
“It hit the metal bar (in the back of the net),” Smith told TNT. “It came out so fast, and the ref (Rank) told me the puck didn’t go in.”
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Former Rangers forward Reilly Smith stars again for Golden Knights in postseason
One of the original Vegas “Misfits” who helped the Golden Knights reach the 2018 Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season, Smith played six seasons in Sin City and won the Stanley Cup with the Golden Knights in 2023.
Smith was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins ahead of the 2023-24 season and then landed with the Rangers last summer. He had 29 points (10 goals, 19 assists) in 58 games with the Rangers before they shipped the pending unrestricted free agent to the Golden Knights.
Back in Vegas, Smith had 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 21 games to close out the regular season. He had one goal in Vegas’ first eight playoff games before scoring twice Saturday.
Given extra minutes because of a lower-body injury sustained by captain Mark Stone, Smith tied the game 2-2 at 16:11 of the first period, helping Vegas wipe out an early 2-0 deficit.
Smith’s first goal was much more artistic than his game-winner. He split between Viktor Arvidsson and Vasily Podkolzin near the Edmonton blue line, then cut from left wing to the front of the net and went forehand-backhand before slipping the puck between Skinner’s pads.
The Golden Knights took a 3-2 lead on Karlsson’s third playoff goal late in the second period, but Edmonton superstar Connor McDavid tied the game with 3:02 to go in regulation when his shot/pass deflected off Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb and past Adin Hill.
That set the stage for Smith’s heroics. He now has 83 points (29 goals, 54 assists) and seven game-winners in 115 Stanley Cup Playoff games — none, alas, with the Rangers.
Smith and his teammates will try to even the series with a Game 4 win in Edmonton on Monday night.
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