LOS ANGELES -- Entering Game 4 tonight, there appear to be no changes for either the Knights or the Kings.
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Remember this pass from Game One?
I caught up with William Karlsson to talk about this play, and frankly, the stones which it took to try:
HockeyBuzz: Have you ever, in your life, played with as much confidence?
William Karlsson: When I was younger, I was pretty confident. (laughs) Cocky and confident. We're talking childhood.
I feel very confident. It's nice to know that I can do it.
But you still have to be humble. Playing against one of the best [in Kopitar] too.
HB: That pass in particular to Carpenter in Game One, is that something you would've tried in a game last season? A couple seasons ago?
WK:Maybe I would've tried it, but not succeeded. Who knows? I just saw it, and I thought I could make it. Luckily I did, too bad we didn't score on it.
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Here are a few Karlsson plays that I've enjoyed in this series.
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Great patience, that split-second hesitation after entering and curling allows Colin Miller to skate into the pass.
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Karlsson's quick first couple of steps are the star here. Watch him go 0 to 60 the second that he sees a loose puck available in the corner.
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This, of course, is the Game Three game-winner. This isn't as an easy a play for Karlsson as you'd guess. If he beelines to the net, chances are, he's noticed in short order and covered. His deliberate approach helps mask his presence until it's too late.
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Speaking of confident, Drew Doughty said about the Karlsson line this morning, "To be honest, that Karlsson line has had absolutely nothing against us this series. Absolutely nothing. Besides that one goal.
"It's due to Kopi's line and me and my D partner just shutting them down. We're playing well against them."
For what it's worth, according to Natural Stat Trick, Karlsson has matched up pretty evenly with Doughty: In 17:40 of 5v5 time, Karlsson has held a 19-17 5v5 Corsi edge, while Doughty is up 10-7 Scoring Chances and 3-2 High-Danger Corsi For. They've traded goals.
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For the Golden Knights, emotions boiled over in the middle of Game Three, with Erik Haula hitting Anze Kopitar in the face and Jonathan Marchessault retaliating on Doughty.
Gerard Gallant noted, "It was a reaction. Doughty gave him a good shot in the back of the head; Marchy slashed him. You can't do that. The referee always calls the second one."
Gary Lawless revealed that Neal took Marchessault aside after his infraction and calmed him down. This goes to something that I asked Neal about recently, about what you learn over a long playoff run as opposed to the brief taste most of his teammates have had.
HockeyBuzz: James, a lot of your teammates have had playoff experience, but only you and Fleury have made the Finals. What do you learn over a long playoff run as opposed to just getting a taste?
James Neal: You learn the ups and the downs of the playoffs. The big games you lose, the way you come to the rink the [next] morning, the way you prepare for the next one.
I think you learn how to control your emotions, stay within the game, and not get too ramped up with the crowd.
Someone does something to you, you learn a lot about yourself and your teammates.
I feel like I'm a better player for it. I try to do everything I can to help the younger guys, help guys who haven't been in those situations, how to work through them.
I liked our composure. I liked how we came out yesterday. It could've been really easy for us to let the game get away, get too amped up, first playoff game in Vegas.
HB: When you were younger, who talked to you and what did they teach you?
JN: Guy who helped me a ton was Brad Richards. We didn't play in the playoffs together, but Conn Smythe winner, guy who won the Stanley Cup.
Just little things. Seeing the way that Sid and Geno were in Pittsburgh. How Flower was. Moving on to Nashville, the likes of Mike Fisher, Shea Weber, guys like that.
It goes a long way, to see the way they handle themselves on a daily basis, not only in the playoffs, but all year -- also, when the game is on the line and how they're working through things.
I'm learned a lot from all those guys, try to give it back to guys like Alex, younger guys like that.
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