Reilly Smith’s career year for Golden Knights continues in opener against Blackhawks

By Justin Emerson

Published Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020 | 9:58 p.m.

Updated Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020 | 11:37 p.m.

Jonathan Marchessault has seen more of Reilly Smith than anyone. The Golden Knights wingers were teammates in Florida before the team even existed, and they have lined up together for three years in Vegas.

“He’s a big part of why we have a lot of success offensively because he normally backs up all my mistakes,” Marchessault joked. “So I like playing with him.”

Smith had perhaps the finest regular season of his career with a personal-best 27 goals, playing mostly with Marchessault. It’s fitting, then, that both of Smith’s third-period goals, his first two of the postseason, were assisted by his running mate, as the Golden Knights took down the Chicago Blackhawks 4-1 in Game 1 of their playoff series at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

“It’s nice to be able to play with great linemates who put you in great opportunities to succeed,” Smith said. “Being able to play with the linemates that I’ve had here in Vegas have definitely helped my career, and I’m very thankful for that.”

The Golden Knights played the kind of game they planned for against the Blackhawks. They managed the puck nearly to perfection all night, particularly at 5-on-5 when they allowed no goals and just four high-danger scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. The puck was in the Chicago end most of the night, and the Blackhawks never got into a groove.

The only Chicago goal came from a broken play on a Vegas power play, but otherwise Robin Lehner was good when he needed to be. He made 19 saves, including a few with one functioning skate, as twice the blade on his left skate popped off mid-play. No goals came off either instance, though, and Lehner picked up his first postseason win as a Golden Knight.

“I was pretty frustrated — that’s the first time that happened to me,” Lehner said. “I didn’t really know what happened there at first, but you have to battle through it.”

Equipment malfunction aside, Vegas controlled play most of the game and twice held Chicago without a shot on goal for more than nine minutes. Contributions came from up and down the lineup. All but four players were on the plus-side of puck possession at 5-on-5, and even those were either even or minus-1. And no forward was better than Smith. With him on the ice, Vegas generated 14 shot attempts and conceded seven.

The defensive pair of Alec Martinez and Shea Theodore was superb in their own end, holding former MVP Patrick Kane to just one shot on goal, and Theodore even scored the game’s first goal. When Martinez and Theodore were on the ice, Kane and his line were out-attempted 12-4.

All in all, no one struggled from a possession standpoint, as the Golden Knights showed firsthand why they were an elite puck-controlling team in the regular season while Chicago struggled.

“We were physical, we got on them in the D-zone early, turned pucks over and got our transition going,” said forward William Carrier, who scored Vegas’ second goal. “I think our D core did great in the D-zone.”

Chicago, though, didn’t break early. The Golden Knights didn’t score in the first, and even though they had 15 shot attempts, just one classified as a high-danger chance. The Blackhawks’ defense — much-maligned throughout the season — was holding Vegas at bay. Even after two goals broke through in the second period, the Blackhawks answered short-handed to send the game to the third with just a 2-1 Vegas lead.

That’s when Smith took over. Marchessault intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and found Smith down the wing. His shot clipped Chicago goalie Corey Crawford in the shoulder but had enough juice to trickle into the net. Less than five minutes later, another Marchessault neutral-zone pass let Smith enter the zone with a head of steam and go in alone on Crawford.

He didn’t miss on his second go at it. He didn’t miss a lot during the regular season, either. Smith is a big reason why the Golden Knights won the Pacific Division, and he’s a big reason why the Golden Knights have a 1-0 lead in the series with Chicago.

“He’s one of the first names you’re calling out if you’re up or down by a goal in the last minute of play,” coach Peter DeBoer said. “He’s a real, real important piece for us.”