Let’s just get it out of the way, the game winning goal of Game 3 was miserable. With ten seconds left to play you can’t let the other team enter your zone and score the way Vegas did Saturday night. With that being said, onto the recap.

Stuart Skinner was in net tonight, his first start since getting pulled in game 2 of the first round. The game started slow until Connor McDavid rushed into the zone and drew two Vegas defenders, leaving Corey Perry with open ice – Adin Hill dropped low to block off the five hole and Perry elevated the puck blocker side to give Edmonton the first goal of the night.

Edmonton doubled down on a powerplay. The puck found its way to the top of center ice where Evan Bouchard sent a blast through heavy traffic; the shot went wide, but Corey Perry was in the right place at the right time and redirected the puck straight past Hill for his second of the night.

Unfortunately, the lead wouldn’t last. Vegas broke through Edmonton on a 2-on-1 where Skinner made the first save, but lost his balance on the rebound. Nicolas Roy wristed a goal past Skinner while he sat near the left post. 54 seconds later Reilly Smith flew through the zone and wrapped the puck around Stuart Skinner – who couldn’t move across the crease fast enough.

The next two periods were a low shot affair for both teams. Heavy checking and strong defensive play kept the game tied until the Oilers took a terrible line change with three minutes remaining in the second period. The change left the ice swarming with Knights, and Stuart Skinner was beaten by a wrister to make the game 3-2 Las Vegas.

Edmonton was eventually able to rally on a flukey bounce from Connor McDavid, but the game wouldn’t go to overtime. With ten seconds remaining in the third period the Oilers began to wind down – and the Golden Knights pressed hard. Reilly Smith came in and feigned a shot from the slot, drawing the Edmonton defence. Smith skated to the left side for a sharp angle shot and Stuart Skinner left the net to challenge – Smith sent a shot across that would have missed, but Leon Draisaitl tipped the puck in during the chaos. 4-3 Vegas with 0.4 seconds remaining. Brutal finish to the night.

Edmonton started out strong, but the momentum got completely drained from the team after letting in two goals in 54 seconds. While the game didn’t spiral out of control, Vegas firmly held the lead for the majority of play – and Edmonton handed them the match on a silver platter rather than killing the last ten seconds and forcing overtime.

Skinner was better this game, but still not great. He’ll have to be better, because reports are that Pickard is out with a torn ACL. Skinner has a 0.817 save percentage, a 5.36 goals against average, and an 0-3 record so far this playoffs. Not great, not great. However, Edmonton has built a two game buffer in the series (down to one now) – there’s still some time to figure out Skinner’s game – and the Oilers have shown that they can win any game so long as they get league average goaltending.

Just need one more timely save a night.

The teams will match up again Monday where Edmonton will try to get a stranglehold on the series before flying back down south.