OILERS DOWN GOLDEN KNIGHTS
McDavid adds to scoring lead
With one week left in the season and a stranglehold on first place in their division, the Vegas Knights, perhaps more than anyone else in the NHL, deserve a moment to savour their accomplishment. But they don’t want one. Taking a bow for shocking the hockey world might give the impression they’re somewhat satisfied after putting up a triple-digit point total in their inaugural season.
They’re not.
As far as they’re concerned, the regular season was just the start.
“I’ll (reflect) in the summer,” said head coach Gerard Gallant. “We know we had a great regular season, that things have gone really well for us so far, but we have no time to do that. We’ll do that in the summer.”
The Knights haven’t done any self-congratulating this season, despite shattering everyone’s expectations for what an expansion team should be. If you’re playing the Nobody Believed in Us card, which they are, then it doesn’t fit the script to act surprised when you succeed.
They’re just good, leave it at that. “We just talk about the next game,” said Gallant. “It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past. It’s the next game. Guys committed from Day 1 to playing hard and working hard in practice, doing the right things.
“And when you get on a winning streak like we had early in the season, it grew a lot of confidence in our group and our team, and it just carried over.”
They will admit, though, that it’s been fun.
“It’s been a good ride so far,” said centre William Karlsson, who went from six goals last season in Columbus to 43 this year in Vegas.
“A lot of people didn’t even think we’d make the playoffs. To win the division is an accomplishment. It’s been a fun ride, for sure.
“But the playoffs are what you play the 82 games for. It’s going to be tough and emotional, but definitely the most fun time of the year.”
OUT OF NOWHERE
If there’s one player who best personifies what the Knights have done this season — coming from nowhere to put up jaw-dropping numbers — it might be Karlsson.
You don’t see a lot of players improve their goal total by 37 in one season, but his leap from six to 43 illustrates the importance of taking advantage of an opportunity when it comes along.
“Who would have thought?” he said, going on to answer his own question. “Vegas believed in me. I knew I was getting the chance and it was up to me to take it. And it helps when you play with good guys. I’ve been playing with Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault for a major part of the season and it’s been working really well.
“Sometimes things like this happen when you get a chance.”
If everyone is being honest, no, the Knights didn’t expect 40 goals when they picked Karlsson in the expansion draft.
“We thought we were getting a really good second- or third-line player, a solid player who could play both ends of the rink,” said Gallant. “I probably thought 20 goals, something like that, definitely not a 43-goal scorer.”
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, back in the Oilers lineup after missing two starts to rest a lower-body issue, said he’s getting used to moving to the wing down the stretch.
“I think it’s been going pretty good,” he said of the experiment. “It’s definitely an adjustment. At first, you see the game a little bit differently, but I’m starting to get used to it and Connor (McDavid) obviously makes it a little bit easier to make that transition.
“It’s been fun. We’re just kind of going with it and it’s been working right now.”
Is this something he envisions himself taking on full time?
“I’m definitely open to it,” he said. “I’ve been a centre basically my whole life. But guys do make transitions to different positions. Now that I have some experience at it, I’m getting used to it, and in the summer I can work on some drills that will help.”
Defenceman Keegan Lowe made his Oilers debut Thursday, slipping into the same colours his father, Kevin, wore while winning five Stanley Cups here.
“It goes without saying it’s extra special for me,” said Lowe.
“I’ve been a diehard Oilers fan my whole life. I’ve always followed the team. Just playing in an NHL game is the dream and making the NHL, but having the colours and the crest on the sweater makes it that much sweeter.”
The occasion wasn’t lost on his teammates.
“Kevin was part of one of the best dynasties in hockey history,” said Nugent-Hopkins. “It’s pretty cool for the whole team.”
It’s taking longer than he had hoped when the Carolina Hurricanes drafted him in the third round in 2011, but Lowe isn’t letting the calendar stress him out.
“Everybody has a different timetable,” he said.
“I’ve never let it get to me. I’m a fifth-year pro now, but I love playing hockey, and I’m never going to stop working until I get to where I want to be.”