Golden Knights’ Reilly Smith drops defiant message amid 3-1 series deficit

The Vegas Golden Knights won Game 3 of their second-round matchup with the Edmonton Oilers thanks to veteran forward Reilly Smith. And with Calvin Pickard still recovering from an injury, it seemed as if Vegas had the perfect chance to even this series. Unfortunately, this did not come to pass. Stuart Skinner pitched a shutout for his team, giving the Oilers a 3-1 series lead with a 3-0 win in Game 4.

The Oilers now have the Golden Knights on the brink of elimination. This is a spot no team wants to find themselves in. Vegas especially wanted to avoid this fate given their expectations. However, Smith remains rather defiant, as his postgame media availability has shown. After all, this is not the team’s first series deficit this postseason.

“We did it last series. We have a lot of confidence in the group and we just have to take it one at a time,” the Golden Knights star said, via SinBin.vegas.

Smith is referring to the team’s first-round series against the Minnesota Wild. Vegas won the first game of that series. However, the Wild went on to take the next two. The Golden Knights eliminated the Wild after winning three straight games.

Of course, there are major differences in these scenarios. Vegas had more room for error in that first-round series, for instance. Moreover, they did not need to contain the likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in the Minnesota matchup. Edmonton has the experience of one of the greatest Stanley Cup Final clashes in recent memory under its belt, as well.

The Golden Knights certainly aren’t out of it quite yet. They are only two seasons removed from a Stanley Cup championship themselves, which the Oilers can’t claim. At the same time, they have a ton of work ahead of them if they want to advance. These teams hit the ice for Game 5 of this series on Wednesday night in Las Vegas, Nevada.