When the Vegas Golden Knights suffered a crushing 1-0 overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals, the team did not just go out quietly. They made history for all the wrong reasons. It marked the first time in franchise history that the Golden Knights were shut out in back-to-back playoff games.

Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner was the architect of Vegas' misery, delivering 24 saves to secure his second straight shutout. Meanwhile, Kasperi Kapanen sealed the series with a clean strike just over seven minutes into overtime, sending the Oilers to the Western Conference Finals and leaving the Golden Knights stunned.

The loss stung deeply, but the Golden Knights' social media team decided to take a different approach to the heartbreak. Rather than posting a long statement or words of motivation, they opted for humor. Their weapon of choice? The now-iconic Ben Affleck meme.

The image, which shows Affleck leaning against a wall, cigarette in hand, eyes closed in absolute exhaustion, perfectly captured the collective mood of Vegas fans and the team itself.

What made it even more impactful was the fact that the tweet went live with no caption. The raw simplicity of the image did all the talking. Affleck’s expression of weary acceptance mirrored the exact feeling of coming so close only to be shut out twice in a row.

The choice of the meme was fitting given how the series unfolded. After falling behind 2-0 in the series, the Golden Knights showed resilience with a dramatic 4-3 win in Game 3.

Reilly Smith’s goal with just 0.4 seconds left on the clock kept Vegas alive and brought hope back to their playoff run. That hope, however, was short-lived. Edmonton responded with a dominant 3-0 shutout in Game 4, and the defensive stranglehold continued into Game 5.

Skinner’s back-to-back shutouts were the ultimate gut punch. Vegas struggled to find any rhythm offensively, plagued by missed opportunities and a rock-solid Edmonton defense. As the game slipped into overtime, it felt like only one shot was needed to decide their fate. Kapanen delivered that shot, and the Oilers punched their ticket to the Western Conference Finals.

Through the pain, the Golden Knights chose to use humor to deal with the pain, posting Affleck’s tired expression as a silent acknowledgment of their struggle. In that moment, their social media team proved that, sometimes, a single image is enough to capture the heartbreak of an entire fanbase.