Depth will be key for Golden Knights in conference finals

SAN JOSE — Every day when Golden Knights finish practice — long after the star players have changed back into their street clothes and the hundreds of crazed fans have filed out of City National Arena — the sound of pucks crashing against the glass and skates cutting through the ice lingers.

It’s the sound of players trying to earn their way into the lineup.

The healthy scratches (players not part of the active 20-man roster on game days) remain after practice to work, improve and stay ready all season for the Golden Knights. Now, deep in the playoffs, the team is reaping the rewards.

The Stanley Cup playoffs are often described as a prolonged, torturous stretch of hockey that leaves teams mangled. The roster that emerges from the heap the healthiest often wins.

But the Golden Knights are now halfway to hoisting the Cup and have more players than they can use. The Knights on Sunday advanced to the Western Conference finals by eliminating the Sharks in six games.

“It shows the depth of our team,” forward Pierre-edouard Bellemare said. “We have three guys that have come into the lineup in the last two games and it’s not easy to do that. Those guys have been waiting and preparing, and they have done an unbelievable job.”

Oscar Lindberg, Luca Sbisa and Ryan Reaves hadn’t played a minute in the postseason until the last two games

MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ / AP Vegas Golden Knights players celebrate after a 3-0 win Sunday against the San Jose Sharks in Game 6 of their Stanley Cup playoff series that clinched a berth in the Western Conference finals for the expansion team.

JOHN LOCHER / AP Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Luca Sbisa (47) knocks the puck away from Sharks center Chris Tierney in Game 5 of an NHL hockey second-round playoff game. It was Sbisa’s first game action in weeks for the talent-rich Golden Knights.