Vegas Golden Knights captain Mark Stone sat out Game 5 on Wednesday night in the second-round playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers because of an upper-body injury.

This five-game defeat felt like a missed opportunity for an aging core of talented players in search of another Cup.

This isn’t the first time Evander Kane has been a pain to the Golden Knights, and he has helped bring a physicality to the Edmonton Oilers that has them one game from eliminating Vegas.

Vegas Golden Knights forward Reilly Smith remained defiant despite the Oilers putting his team on the brink of elimination.

With the Western Conference second-round series on the line and Edmonton entering the game with a commanding 2-0 lead, Smith’s last-second goal stunned the home crowd in Edmonton and cut the Oilers’ series lead to 2-1.