Golden Knights' core shows championship mettle in Game 3

EDMONTON -- The Vegas Golden Knights are a playoff savvy, veteran group capable of overcoming adversity.

They proved it in their wild 4-3 win against the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3 of the Western Conference Second Round on Saturday.

Falling behind 2-0 in the best-of-7 series did not faze them.

Going down 2-0 in Game 3 here at Rogers Place did not faze them.

Neither did losing captain Mark Stone to injury in the first period.

Nor did giving up the tying goal with 3:02 left in the third period off an unlucky bounce.

“I think it’s just something we’ve always had in us, no matter what happens; super high or super low moments, I think we do a good job of staying even keel knowing that we’re never out of it,” Vegas defenseman Nicolas Hague said. “Tonight was obviously a good example. It can be flattening too, especially on the road, kind of on the ropes a little bit there. To go down 2-0, especially against this team, it’s obviously not ideal but I thought we just did a great job staying in the game, staying in the moment, working for the next goal and the next one after that. It’s always been the mindset of this group.”

A fortunate bounce of their own with 0.4 left in regulation gave the Golden Knights the win, reducing the series deficit to 2-1. They will have a chance to even things up in Game 4 here on Monday (9:30 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, MAX).

“It’s huge (win), now it’s a series,” Vegas defenseman Noah Hanifin said. “Now we have to regroup and come back (Monday) and bring the same effort again. It’s one game at a time, one day at a time. It’s a long series. They’re a good team over there, but so are we. We’re confident and staying patient and building our game as it goes along.”

Having lost the first two games of the series at home, Vegas desperately needed the win and played accordingly. Going down 3-0 to Edmonton would have made it near impossible to come back and win the series. Only four teams in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs have done it.

Now trailing 2-1, the task does not seem as daunting, even if Stone is not able to play in Game 4. He is considered day to day after being limited to six shifts and 5:54 of ice time before leaving with an upper-body injury.

“He’s our captain, a heart and soul guy on our team,” Hanifin said. “When he goes down, everybody’s got to elevate their game and step up. We did that. We stuck with it and played our game and fortunately won the game.”

The Golden Knights are familiar with the ebbs and flows of playoff hockey. They still have 15 players who were on the 2023 Stanley Cup championship team, so are adept to staying in the moment.

On Saturday, they weathered an early storm and tied the game with goals from Nicolas Roy and Reilly Smith 54 seconds apart in the first period. William Karlsson then scored at 17:05 of the second to give Vegas a 3-2 lead.

“You have to draw on previous experience, but you still have to play the game and get out there and do it,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I think our group in general is a very cerebral group, I think they’re highly competitive but calm in nature. They don’t panic when things don’t go their way, that’s just the makeup of the group.

“They’ve been through a lot, they’ve won, they’ve lost, they’ve been on both sides of it right to the bitter end. They know that there’s ups and down and we’ll all take this experience moving forward, giving up a late goal and then getting one. That will be in our memory banks the next time we give up a late goal.”

Defenseman Brayden McNabb, who was questionable to play after slamming into the end boards in Game 2, had the puck bounce off his skate and into the net off a centering pass from Oilers center Connor McDavid, which tied the game 3-3.

Undaunted, McNabb picked up an assist on Smith’s winning goal at 19:59. Smith’s last-second attempt was tipped into the net by Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl, who was trying to stop it from going in.

“I think that’s something we’ve had for a long time,” Karlsson said. “Even in the regular season there’s been games where we’ve come back and won. So, the mentality is there, the boys never give up and it’s a good strength to have on the team. We just have to carry on and keep that mindset.”

The Golden Knights stayed positive despite a 5-4 overtime loss in Game 2 on Thursday. They’ll look to put in another good effort Monday and regain home-ice advantage with Game 5 back in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

“We played a really good game, last game,” Hanifin said. “We talked about building our game and not getting down, it’s 2-0 in the series, but don’t get down. We got a win tonight on a good bounce at the end of the game now we’re right back in it. Now we just have to take care of business on Monday.”