Nugent-Hopkins, Zach Hyman and Evander Kane gave Edmonton a 3-0 lead in the first period, Elias Lindholm and Mikael Backlund responded for Calgary in the second, and then came one of the weirdest plays you'll ever see.
Toward the end of an Edmonton power play, Kane mishandled the puck at the Calgary blue line. The puck slid toward Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson, who was drifting backward in his own zone. Andersson fired a slap shot high into the air down the ice. It looked like he was clearing the puck, but he put it on net.
Smith didn't see it.
"I mean, obviously," Smith said.
The puck bounced past Smith on his glove side for a shorthanded goal, and just like that, the Oilers lead was gone. He put out his arms, with body language saying, "What happened?" The 40-year-old has played 16 NHL seasons, and he has never seen anything like that, so to speak.
"I don't think there's been a time in my career where I've lost the puck where I have no idea where it went," Smith said. "Talking to some guys after, I wasn't the only one that didn't know where it was, either, so that] made me feel a little bit better. But yeah, I mean, obviously you don't want that to happen -- ever."
Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft said he didn't see the puck go into the net, because he was worried about putting out the next group after the power play. After double-checking the goal was legal, the Oilers focused on the next shift.
"Our guys were saying the right things on the bench," Woodcroft said. "There was calm, there was composure, and we knew we just had to continue to do the things that lead to success, and for us, it was making sure we had the right people on the ice at the right time.
"There was a period in the game where we thought we stopped shooting the puck. I thought after that goal went in, we put our nose back to the grindstone and found a way to get the winning goal, so I was happy for our group."
***[RELATED: [Complete Flames vs. Oilers series coverage]*
Woodcroft shuffled his lines and put Kailer Yamamoto on the ice, he said, because of a gut feeling. Yamamoto won a battle behind the net and made a sharp pass to the point for Tyson Barrie, who fired a point shot. Nugent-Hopkins had inside position in front of the net and banged in the rebound.
"We've gone through some adversity this year," Nugent-Hopkins said. "The way that we've stuck together and [come] out the right end of it, I mean, it shows the character that we have in that room and the resilience we have in the group. So, I mean, stuff like that happens every game, and you've got to find a way to stick with it, and I think we're well equipped to be able to handle situations like that now."
Kane scored an empty-net goal at 19:35 for the 5-3 final.
"It's never perfect, but it's how you handle it," Smith said. "It's how you battle through the adversity, sticking together as a group. We're doing that. You know, we're doing that. When we're down, we're finding ways to get back in games. We had a lead there, and obviously they tied it up there. No one panicked. Everyone kept their composure, and we get a big goal by 'Nugget' there to seal the deal.
"But yeah, there's definitely growth in this team, for sure. There's a confidence that this team's playing with that we believe we can do some damage."
Woodcroft called it a gut-check win. He said when the coaches spoke to the players before the game, they used the mantra "whatever it takes."
"In the end, our group had that mantra, 'whatever it takes,' and they got it done when it counted," Woodcroft said. "… We have a very, very strong belief that we have what it takes to come through any type of circumstance."
