Golden Knights in awe of Smith's winner: 'One of the craziest things I've ever seen'

The Vegas Golden Knights still can't quite comprehend the stunning finish to Game 3 against the Edmonton Oilers.

Just when everyone was likely preparing for overtime Saturday night, Reilly Smith had other ideas, scoring the game-winner with 0.4 seconds left in regulation.

The veteran winger swung the puck off Leon Draisaitl's stick and in. The puck went in and out so fast it appeared at first glance that Smith hit the crossbar. But after a quick review, it was a deemed a goal.

"Just hoping, really," Smith said when asked how he had the poise to hang onto the puck. "I think if I tried to shoot that, it's getting stopped. ... Sometimes you just hope for the best, and that one it seemed to work out. Thankfully I had enough time."

He added, "I think after this playoffs are said and done, I'll look back at it. Right now, I think my mindset is I was able to help the team win tonight."

It's the third-latest regulation game-winner in Stanley Cup Playoff history, following Jussi Jokinen in 2009 (0.2 seconds) and Nazem Kadri in 2020 (0.1 seconds), per Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

"That was one of the craziest things I've ever seen in a hockey game," Golden Knights defenseman Nicolas Hague said postgame. "It was great, great play. ... Thank God it was good because we were celebrating."

Vegas forward Nicolas Roy seemed to agree with Hague's assessment.

"It was unbelievable," he said. "It looks like Reilly knew it, but nobody else on the ice knew it. ... What a play by him, and obviously it's a huge goal."

The goal could prove to save Vegas' season. Edmonton was set to enter overtime with momentum on its side after Connor McDavid tied the game with 3:02 remaining. A win would've given the Oilers a commanding 3-0 series lead, but instead, the Golden Knights are right back in it.

"We never think we're down and out," Smith said postgame. "There's always a lot of fight in this group."

Edmonton was in control with a 2-0 lead in Game 3 just past the midway mark of the first period, but Roy and Smith scored 54 seconds apart to tie things up before the second frame.

The Oilers were riding a streak of six straight postseason comeback wins, and Golden Knights head coach Bruce Cassidy was pleased to flip the script.

"The finish, yeah, you don't see too many of them (like that)," he said. "Good for us to get one to go in our favor. ... Fortunate to get a break there because in reality they got a break on the third goal, right? It goes in off our guy.

"So I guess maybe the hockey gods evened some things out."

Game 4 is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET Monday.