Smith, Knights top Blackhawks in OT for 2-0 lead

[August 14, 2020]  Reilly Smith scored in the first overtime to lift the Vegas Golden Knights to a 4-3 win over the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 2 of their Western Conference first-round series on Thursday afternoon in Edmonton.

Smith and Paul Stastny each had a goal and an assist, Tomas Nosek and Mark Stone also scored, Jonathan Marchessault had two assists, and Robin Lehner made 22 saves for top-seeded Vegas, which has a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Kirby Dach, Dominik Kubalik and Dylan Strome scored, Patrick Kane had three assists, and Corey Crawford made 35 saves for the 12th-seeded Blackhawks.

Smith, who had two goals and an assist in a 4-1 win in Game 1, scored the game-winner at 7:13, redirecting Stastny's pass from the corner just by Crawford's glove.

After trailing 2-0 at the end of the first period, Chicago came back to tie the score twice in the second. Dach cleaned up a rebound at 3:17, and Kubalik's power-play goal from the high slot at 12:07 made it 2-2.

Stone moved the Golden Knights back ahead 3-2 at 17:20, but Strome scored off a centering pass from Kane with 14 seconds left in the period to tie the game 3-3 heading into the third.

The assist was the 130th playoff point for Kane, moving him past Bobby Hull into third on the all-time franchise list behind Denis Savard (145) and Stan Mikita (150).

Stastny gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 10:44 of the first period.

Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford (50) guards his net during the warmup period against the Vegas Golden Knights in game two of the first round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

Nosek made it 2-0 at 15:35 of the first with a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle.

Nosek had entered the lineup for Max Pacioretty, the leading goal and point scorer for Vegas during the regular season, who was deemed unfit to play.

Pacioretty also missed the three round-robin games by Vegas because of an undisclosed minor injury, but logged four shots on goal in just over 18 minutes in the series opener on Tuesday. Nosek departed in the final minutes of the second period with an apparent injury and did not return.

--Field Level Media

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