The Vegas Golden Knights have become the clear favorite in the Western Conference Finals of the 2017-18 NHL Playoffs as they’ve taken a 3-1 series lead over the Winnipeg Jets. Thanks to a late goal by Reilly Smith, Game 4 at T-Mobile Arena was a huge present for the Vegas fans who continue to watch this Cinderella story unfold.
Vegas got goals from Tomas Nosek, William Karlsson, and Smith and it was enough to outdo goals by Patrik Laine and Tyler Myers. The Jets are now fighting for their playoff lives. Should Vegas win on Sunday, it will put them in the Stanley Cup Final and the Jets will go home, knowing they had a good season but not enough in the tank to overcome an NHL expansion franchise that seems to have everything go for it.
WOOOOOOOO!!!!
VICTORY?#VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/kAF8e1ccAQ
— y-Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) May 19, 2018
A 38-shot performance by Winnipeg just wasn’t enough to beat Conn Smythe candidate Marc-Andre Fleury. Fleury said, “I was hoping like last game… they came out early. It would have been nice for me to get that save. Our guys pushed back hard and we wrapped it up.”
Smith said of his game-winning goal, “I’ve been throwing a lot of muffins on net and it was nice to see that one go in.”
The question will be how the Jets can’t string together more than a one period where they take it to the Golden Knights. They can dominate periods but can’t seem to keep the effort consistent through 60 minutes of play. It’s been costing the Jets the series. Still, this game was close and the Jets had a chance to win it, especially when you consider should some questionably missed calls by the refs have gone the way of the Jets, it could have been a different game.
The series will continue on Sunday where the Jets will look to win at home and send the series of a Game 7.
