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Mass shooting survivors name baby after Vegas hockey player

Published May. 28, 2018 2:22 p.m. ET

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LAS VEGAS (AP) A couple who survived the October shooting at a Las Vegas country music festival has named their newborn after one of the Vegas Golden Knights hockey players, saying the team brought positivity into their lives after the tragedy.

Lauren and Brad Sugars' girl was born May 18, the same day the Golden Knights beat the Winnipeg Jets to advance to the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, KLAS-TV reported .

The Las Vegas couple originally had Austin in mind as their daughter's name, but decided to go with Riley - named after Knights player Reilly Smith.

The Sugars didn't know they were going to become parents until after the festival.

''We know a lot of other friends that went through the same experience and had a lot of trouble moving on, and I think we got a very clear reason to move on straight away,'' Brad Sugars said.

On Oct. 1, 2017, a man opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival and killed 58 people.

''We got out of that spot, and we started running, and it started shooting again,'' Brad Sugars said. ''I took cover, and Lauren just kept running. That's when we got separated.''

He said he remembers screaming Lauren's name, calling her until he found her hiding under a car in a parking lot. They found out two weeks later that a baby was on the way.

''Route 91 was a very big negative, but our city turned it into a really big positive, and I think the Golden Knights has been a really big part of that,'' Brad Sugars said. ''It's helped immensely to have something positive to focus on.''

The Knights play the Washington Capitals on Monday in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

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Information from: KLAS-TV, http://www.klas-tv.com

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