Golden Knights Take Commanding Series Lead over Jets with 3-2 Game 4 Win

The Vegas Golden Knights are one win away from reaching the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season after a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets in Game 4 of the Western Conference final on Friday night.

A back-and-forth affair went the Golden Knights' way thanks to Reilly Smith's go-ahead goal with 6:58 remaining in the third period. Marc-Andre Fleury was again fantastic in goal with 36 saves on 38 attempts. 

Since a 4-2 loss in Game 1 of the series, Fleury has allowed a total of five goals in the past three games. Vegas' offense has been on a roll with 10 goals during that same span. The entire team is seemingly incapable of doing anything wrong at this moment. 

Per ESPN's John Buccigross, the Golden Knights have been excellent this postseason on their home ice at putting instant pressure on their opponents:

That came after William Karlsson opened the scoring in Game 5 with a power-play goal less than three minutes into the first period. 

Vegas was clinging to its 1-0 lead midway through the second period until Patrik Laine got Winnipeg on the board with his own power-play goal. 

That seemed like a critical moment for the Jets and Laine, who had just two goals in the past 13 games after leading the team with 44 in the regular season. 

The problem from Winnipeg's side is it couldn't keep the Golden Knights from stealing momentum right back. Just 43 seconds after Laine tied the game, Tomas Nosek took an assist from Pierre-Edouard Bellemare' wraparound attempt and put the puck in the net. 

Vegas' ability to respond when Winnipeg gets on the board has been critical to its current three-game winning streak in the series. It happened in Game 4, as well, when James Neal gave the Golden Knights a lead 12 seconds after Mark Scheifele tied the score at one. 

The Golden Knights had some fun with this scoring trend on Twitter:

Vegas needed a second one on this night because Tyler Myers evened things up for Winnipeg in the third period with a goal that seemed to catch everyone by surprise:

Smith provided that additional response goal with his heroics, helping to secure Vegas' win and put it on the brink of history. 

In addition to response goals, Fleury is playing at another level for Vegas. The three-time All-Star has been on a historic run in this postseason, with Adam Gretz of NBC Sports offering this nugget prior to Game 5:

"Among goalies that have appeared in at least 12 playoff games in a season only three have ever finished with a save percentage that high: Jonathan Quick (.946) in 2011-12, Patrick Lalime (.946) in 2001-02, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere in 2002-03. Quick and Giguere ended up winning the Conn Smythe Trophy in their seasons. Giguere did so in a losing effort in the Stanley Cup Final."

Lost in all the great things Vegas is doing on the ice, TSN's Bruce Arthur had an idea for general manager George McPhee if this playoff run results in a Stanley Cup title:

There is no precedent for a franchise in its inaugural season to do what the Golden Knights have already accomplished. 

The closest comparison, as noted by FiveThirtyEight's Neil Payne in January, was the 1967-68 St. Louis Blues, who made the Stanley Cup Final in their first year because the NHL put all six of its expansion teams into one division and one of them had to play for the championship. 

Vegas can't get complacent right now, because there is still a lot of work to do. Winnipeg just won a Game 7 on the road against the Nashville Predators to reach the conference final, so it won't be intimidated on the road in an elimination game on Sunday. 

Everything the Golden Knights are doing right now is working. Head coach Gerard Gallant will make sure his team keeps its foot on the gas, just as he has done all year with a trip to the Stanley Cup Final on the line in front of a raucous crowd at the T-Mobile Arena.