Smith scores twice, lifts Golden Knights past Flames late in OT

CALGARY -- Reilly Smith scored his second goal of the game with 29 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 3-2 win against the Calgary Flames at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday.

Smith made a centering pass from below the goal line that deflected off Calgary defenseman MacKenzie Weegar's skate and in off goalie Dustin Wolf's right shoulder to win it.

"I was just trying to get the puck in front to Brett (Howden) and it took a fortunate bounce," Smith said.

Pavel Dorofeyev also scored, and Shea Theodore had three assists for the Golden Knights (46-22-8), who had lost two in a row after winning six straight. Akira Schmid made 21 saves in his third game of the season and first NHL start since March 5, 2024, for the New Jersey Devils.

"A bit of relief, for sure," Smith said. "I think we did enough in that game to win. Sometimes bounces don't go your way and teams claw back in. I don't think there was any real panic in this locker room at all throughout the game. Just keep the foot on the gas and you're going to get fortunate bounces every now and then. That's good for us right now."

Vegas remained three points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings for first place in the Pacific Division with the victory. The Kings, who won 3-0 against the Edmonton Oilers earlier Saturday, and Golden Knights each have six games remaining this season.

"If we don't win the (division) title, can we still have a great playoff run? Absolutely," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "If we win the title, we do guarantee less travel and home ice. We've been really good at home this year. Those are all ifs, right? And it's something we've won, and our guys are competitive. They like to win. That's why it's important."

Joel Hanley and Matt Coronato scored for the Flames (36-27-13), who have lost four of six. Wolf made 31 saves.

"I mean, it's disappointing maybe that we didn't get that last point there, an unlucky break maybe a little bit," Hanley said. "But there's still a lot of fight in this group. It's a big point and it's going to come down to the end. We're just going to keep fighting."

The Flames are four points behind the Minnesota Wild for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference with a game in hand.

“We’re the underdogs," Wolf said. "That’s the biggest thing. We came into the year with everybody saying we’re going to [stink], and look at us now. We’re fighting for our lives to sneak in. And you know what? We’re going to get in. This one stings, but we move onto the next one."

Dorofeyev gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 18:39 of the first period. He took a return pass from Theodore on a give-and-go odd-man rush before chipping a backhand by Wolf's glove for his 10th goal in 18 games.

Smith made it 2-0 at 9:57 of the second period when he tipped Theodore's point shot by Wolf's outstretched glove.

Hanley cut it to 2-1 at 19:52 with a wrist shot from the high slot by Schmid's glove.

"I’ve been playing with a little less fear in my game and just trying to play to what I know I can do," Hanley said. "Lucky shot, was lucky it went in."

Coronato scored 43 seconds into the third period to tie it 2-2. He shot over Schmid's left shoulder from just outside the top of the left circle after Mikael Backlund won an offensive-zone face-off.

Schmid made a glove save on Backlund's short-handed breakaway attempt with two seconds left to force overtime.

"That's a huge save for us -- saves the game," Smith said. "Just a crazy scenario how that ended up. You need goalies to make big saves this time of year and he did a great job on that one and a few others tonight."

NOTES: The win secured Vegas' third 100-point season in franchise history. The Golden Knights also reached 100 points in the club’s inaugural season in 2017-18 when they finished with 109 points, and in 2022-23 when the team reached a franchise record-setting 111 points. ... Vegas is 16-4-1 against Pacific Division opponents this season. ... Calgary forward Nazem Kadri recorded his 400th NHL assist on Hanley's goal.