Reilly Smith buried the game-winner at 13:02 of the third period to move the Vegas Golden Knights within one win of the Stanley Cup Final after a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets Friday night.
Smith (1-1–2) earned the game's first star while posting his second multi-point game in three outings and fourth of the postseason.
In a tightly played game, Smith knew the importance of capitalizing on every opportunity, and wristed the go-ahead goal bar down after skating into the crosshairs of what could have been a blistering shot from Winnipeg Jets' powerhouse Dustin Byfuglien.
"I was hoping I wasn't going to eat that [Byfuglien shot], but sometimes in the third period the ice throws you some bounces," Smith said of the fortuitous turnover. "We were fortunate to capitalize on that opportunity.
"I was just trying to get as much ice as I could before the other defenseman closed in. I pretty much buried my head and put it on net. [Connor] Hellebuyck is a big goalie, so it's tough to score on him far side."
Smith kept an even calmer head postgame, and threw most of the credit to teammate Marc-Andre Fleury, who has quite simply put, been sensational all postseason long.
"How are you able to withstand everything Winnipeg is throwing at you?"
"He's sitting right beside me." Reilly Smith pic.twitter.com/v31CYkQliZ
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) May 19, 2018
The series, now 3-1, heads back to Winnipeg for Game 5, where the Gold Knights will try to close out the Western Conference Final in front of what's sure to be a raucous crowd in another Winnipeg whiteout at Bell MTS Place.