Smith scores winner to put Knights on brink of NHL finals
Reilly Smith scored the winner with seven minutes left in regulation as the expansion Vegas Golden Knights beat the Winnipeg Jets 3-2 to grab a 3-1 Western Conference series lead on Friday. "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," said Smith. The Golden 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 on Sunday in Winnipeg. "It is hard to close out teams. But we have got to do our best to go into Winnipeg and stick to our game plan," Smith said. Smith took advantage of a miscue by Jets defenseman Dustin Byfuglien at the Knights' blueline. 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 6:58 left in third period. William Karlsson and Tomas Nosek also scored and goaltender Fleury stopped 36 shots for the Golden Knights, who improved to 6-1 at home in their first ever postseason. "I am just living in the moment," Karlsson said. "This is the time of my life." The Jets outshot Vegas 37-29 and controlled much of the play but still came out with the loss. "We got away with a win," said Karlsson. The Golden Knights were 500-1 betting underdogs to win the Stanley Cup to begin the season and are now just one victory away from advancing to the Stanley Cup finals. Friday was a must-win game for the Jets because NHL 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 at 9:29 of 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 Friday but failed get one past Fleury. Defenseman Tyler Myers also scored for Winnipeg. "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." - Redemption for Nosek - Vegas has won games by not giving the Jets any breathing room. On Friday, Laine's goal on the powerplay -- with Nosek in the penalty box for tripping -- was immediately followed by a Knights' goal just 43 seconds later. 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 also scored the franchise's first goal on home ice back in October. The Golden Knights are already in rarified air for an North American major sports expansion team and are looking for more history to make. If they reach the championship series they would join the 1967-68 St. Louis Blues as only NHL expansion teams in the modern era to reach the Stanley Cup 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 in the final.
