Reilly Smith Speaks Out After Viral Buzzer-Beater Goal Stuns the Oilers and Shatters NHL Playoffs History
Photo credit: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images
Vegas Golden Knights' forward Reilly Smith spoke out after his viral buzzer-beater goal stunned the Oilers and made NHL playoff history.
Smith tied Nazem Kadri (2020) and Jussi Jokinen (2020) for the latest go-ahead goal in Stanley Cup Playoffs history by scoring the game-winning goal with 0.4 seconds left in the third period of the third game against the Edmonton Oilers.
After the game, he opened up on how it went down.
Smith drew inspiration from his teammate William Karlsson, who he had seen execute a similar play several times: jumping off the bench, going on the forecheck, and firing the puck toward the front of the net:
"Honestly, I've seen Karlsson use that play a few times where he forechecks and spins it out in front of the net. Jumping out from the bench, I think there were about seven seconds, and I just tried to get there as fast as possible.
'Karl' does a good job of hunting pucks and being the first on it, and once it popped out, I saw a lot of guys sell out, so I just hoped I had enough time to kind of pump fake and find a line, and it worked out."
'Karl' does a good job of hunting pucks and being the first on it, and once it popped out, I saw a lot of guys sell out, so I just hoped I had enough time to kind of pump fake and find a line, and it worked out."
Smith did exactly that, and Leon Draisaitl ended up deflecting the puck across the goal line.
But when he shot the puck, he had no idea that it would end the way it did; he just hoped for the best:
"I think if I try to shoot that, it's getting stopped - if not by the first guy, then the second guy or the goalie. Sometimes you just hope for the best, and that one seemed to work out; thankfully, I had enough time."
"From my angle, it seemed like it hit the middle bar, but it came out so fast that I wasn't really sure if the time had expired. And then I take a peek at the ref, and he's telling me it didn't go in. So, just fortunate we were able to get something with time running down there."
"From my angle, it seemed like it hit the middle bar, but it came out so fast that I wasn't really sure if the time had expired. And then I take a peek at the ref, and he's telling me it didn't go in. So, just fortunate we were able to get something with time running down there."
Listen to the following video for Smith's full press conference:
Watch the crucial goal here:
| POLL | ||
MAI 11 | 364 ANSWERS Reilly Smith Speaks Out After Viral Buzzer-Beater Goal Stuns the Oilers and Shatters NHL Playoffs History Which team will get to the next round? | ||
| Edmonton Oilers | 270 | 74.2 % |
| Vegas Golden Knights | 94 | 25.8 % |
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