EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers have work to do to keep their hard-won advantage from withering away in their playoff series against the Vegas Golden Knights.
After taking the first two games on the road in the second-round set, the Oilers dropping Game 3 in stunning fashion at home will test the resilience of a club that touts its ability to let adversity roll off its back.
Game 4 at Rogers Place on Monday is the difference between the Oilers taking a 3-1 series lead back to Las Vegas with a chance to clinch, or surrendering their upper hand in the best-of-seven affair.
Reilly Smith scoring the winner with just four-tenths of a second left on the clock in a 4-3 win Saturday was a boon to the Golden Knights
"Huge, to be honest" said Vegas forward Ivan Barbashev. "Could have went to overtime. If you lose, you go down three nothing."
Edmonton is the oldest team among the eight left in the NHL playoffs with an average age of almost 31. The Oilers boast the experience of reaching Game 7 of last year's Stanley Cup final before falling to the Florida Panthers.
But the Golden Knights are also a battle-hardened side with 15 players carried over from the roster that won the Stanley Cup in 2023.
"Our group's been around for a bit, played a lot of playoff games," Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse said Sunday. "After a game, any loss, it sucks, and you process it probably hard, especially the way that one ended last night. By the same token, you wake up today with a great opportunity tomorrow to win one game on home ice."
Head coach Kris Knoblauch confirmed Stuart Skinner will return to the Oilers' net for Game 4.
Edmonton's No. 1 in the regular season stopped 20 shots in his first start since Calvin Pickard replaced him for the third game of a first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings.
The Oilers and Pickard won six straight playoff games, but Pickard was injured in a 5-4 overtime win in Game 2 in Las Vegas when Tomas Hertl landed on his left leg.
Skinner made athletic saves Saturday, but he and the other Oilers on the ice were discombobulated by William Karlsson zipping from his own end to below Edmonton's goal-line with eight seconds left.
Karlsson threw the puck out front for Smith to grab and drag Skinner out of his crease as Smith's shot deflected off the stick of Leon Draisaitl and into Edmonton's net.
"You always want players playing with desperation and putting it all out on the line," Knoblauch said. "That's what everyone really did, the defence and our goaltender there. Unfortunately, there's a little more time on the clock than everyone thought.
"Stuart made some really big saves, especially the third period, made a really good one. Made some other ones early in the game on the penalty kill. We need, just like game one and two when he played early in the L.A. series, we just need to be better in front of him."
Porous defence on Smith's first goal that tied the game in the first period, and mismanagement of a line change in the second that allowed Karlsson the go-ahead goal were among other Oiler gaffes in Game 3.
"You look back at last night, there's a lot of shooting ourselves in the foot, whether it's reads or decisions," Nurse said. "We take control of that and we take more control of the game itself."
Leading scorer Pavel Dorofeyev returned to the Golden Knights' top line in Game 3 after sitting out three games, but the status of linemate and captain Mark Stone was unclear.
Stone played a few shifts after his head appeared to collide with Corey Perry's knee in the first period. Stone eventually left the game and didn't return.
"He's doing all right. We'll keep him as day to day," Vegas head coach Bruce Cassidy said. "Hopefully he's better tomorrow and ready to go."
Knoblauch switched between deploying captain Connor McDavid and Draisaitl on the same line and separating them in Game 3. Whether the two men should play together or apart is a subject of great debate among the team's fandom.
Edmonton scored two of its three goals with McDavid and Draisaitl on the ice together.
"We've played almost every single game with Leon and Connor separated for part of the games and playing together. The last few games, they've been playing more together than they have been separated," Knoblauch said.
"The biggest thing is who's playing well and who's playing well together. We'll make that decision tomorrow."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 11, 2025.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
