Las Vegas Goal (or Edmonton Oilers Own Goal) With 0.4 Seconds Left in The Game Brought The Golden Knights Season Back from The Dead
Fantastic series so far between these two teams. It was so damn close to being over too. As it always is, 3-0 would have been a death sentence. When Connor McDavid scored to tie the game up with just 3 minutes to go, I thought Vegas was cooked.
Especially the way he scored it. You can almost call it a fluke goal. It was like god just wanted the Oilers to win. They had all the momentum on home ice. They would have gone into OT where they're 2-0 so far this playoffs. For Vegas to score that goal in that manner with 0.4 seconds left on the clock... series changing goals don't get much more series changing than that.
As a fan of a hockey series that's average 7.3 goals per game, I'm happy to know we have at least 2 more between the Oilers and Knights to look forward to. But as a fan of hockey. As a fan of storylines. It's going to be a MASSIVE shame if Vegas ends up coming back to win the series and advances to the Conference Finals. Call me old fashioned, but I want to see the best player in hockey in Connor McDavid get another crack at the Stanley Cup. Oilers vs Maple Leafs would be an all-time series. I've got a soft spot in my heart for Canada. I'm ready for them to win a cup. Las Vegas on the other hand... they've only been around since 2017. They just won a Stanley Cup two years ago. I'm not even sure where their fans come from. Do real people actually live in Vegas? Like full time? Is their fan base just strictly casino employees? To their credit, they've played a lot of awesome games this playoffs. They've been a fun team to watch, I'll give them that. But I don't want them winning this series. I gotta think most causal fans, and most serious puck knowing fans without a dog in the fight feel the same way.
But I digress. God damn it, Draisaitl. That puck wasn't going in the net. Not that you can totally blame him. He's just trying to make a play. Reilly Smith's angle wasn't bad enough that he could feel confident about totally getting out of the way, knowing the puck would slide across the crease. He really did seem to jab at it though...
Just let it go man! Be stronger on your stick if you're going to make that play! That's easy to say from the couch. But it's still brutal to watch.
The GWG scorer, Reilly Smith, on the other hand. What incredible awareness of the clock. I don't know how it's even possible to be that aware. Knowing exactly how much time is left on the clock down to the final half second is extremely tough to do in hockey. The game is moving so fast. Your head is locked in on the puck. The main scoreboard is hanging way up high behind you over center ice. I don't know exactly where all the clocks are located inside of Rogers Place, but Vegas is playing their first away game of the series, so Reilly Smith isn't necessarily used to where to look to see the time. To be aware enough to know you have the time to fake that shot, and throw the puck on net at the last possible moment… maybe it was just dumb luck… but if he really knew exactly how much time he had left in the game, that is crazy impressive. That was a hell of a game.