NHL Playoffs 2025: Reilly Smith’s buzzer-beater vs. Oilers headlines 3 Stars of the Night

The NHL playoffs simply never disappoint, and Saturday night produced a jaw-dropping moment. Reilly Smith’s buzzer-beating goal won the game for the Vegas Golden Knights and kept them alive in their second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers.

Smith was the biggest star of the night as he recorded two goals in Vegas’ 4-3 win over Edmonton in Game 3. Smith’s first goal of the night was a beauty. He skated through three Oilers and finished the play with a slick deke on Stuart Skinner. As cool as that was, no one remembered it by the end of the game.

NHL Playoffs 2025: Stanley Cup schedule, bracket, scores, as Golden Knights beat Oilers with buzzer-beater

Austin Nivison

That’s because, with 0.4 seconds on the clock, Smith beat the buzzer to get Vegas on the board in the series. Smith gave the Golden Knights a major morale boost because, just a few minutes earlier, Connor McDavid tied the scored with 3:02 left. It looked like Vegas was headed toward another gut-wrenching loss until Smith pulled out a miracle.

The first game of the night wasn’t quite as enthralling. The Carolina Hurricanes, led by goaltender Frederik Andersen, completely suffocated the Washington Capitals in a 4-0 win. Andersen saved all 21 shots he faced, and a handful of them were of the Grade-A variety.

It probably goes without saying that Smith and Andersen made the cut for our 3 Stars of the Night, which honors the top performers from each night of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Age is but a number, and Perry proved that in Game 3. With his two first-period goals, Perry not only gave the Oilers an early spark, but he also made a little history in the process.

Just 7:19 into Game 3, Perry received a drop pass from Connor McDavid, walked into the slot and fired a shot past Adin Hill to open the scoring. Just 3:53 later, Perry tipped home an Evan Bouchard point shot.

With that second tally, the 39-year-old Perry became the oldest player in Oilers history to record a multi-goal playoff game. He also became the third-oldest player in NHL history to notch two goals in one playoff period.

2. Frederick Andersen | G | Hurricanes

Andersen missed Game 5 against the New Jersey Devils due to injury, and it was fair to wonder whether that would affect him in the second round. So far, Andersen has been even better than he was in the first round, and he was at his best against the Washington Capitals in Game 3.

Andersen pitched a shutout, stopping all 21 shots he faced, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. While Andersen didn’t see a high volume of shots, he did face some dangerous chances. In fact, he saw one more high-danger shot (8) than his Capitals counterpart Logan Thompson (7). According to Natural Stat Trick, Andersen saved 1.71 goals above average in Game 3. Between Andersen’s goaltending and the Canes’ elite defensive structure, Washington kept running into a brick wall offensively.

1. Reilly Smith | RW | Golden Knights

With Mark Stone out for most of Game 3 due to an upper-body injury, the Golden Knights needed someone else to step up if they were going to get back in the series. Reilly Smith did just that with his game-winning buzzer-beater in Edmonton.

In the first period, Smith scored a gorgeous goal to tie the game at 2. A couple hours later, that play would become a forgettable footnote. After Connor McDavid leveled the score at 3-3 with just over three minutes remaining, it looked like these two teams were headed to overtime for the second straight game.

As the clock ticked toward zero in regulation, William Karlsson just flipped the puck toward the front of the net. It found its way to the high slot where Smith picked it up, pump-faked two defenders, waited out Skinner and fired home the game-winner with 0.4 seconds left.