Golden Knight’s William Karlsson: “We’re Playing the Best Hockey of the Season”

Vegas Golden Knights continued their excellent run by defeating one of the biggest favorites for winning the top spot of the Western Conference, San Jose Sharks. The guests from Nevada rolled over their rivals last night, crushing them with 7-3.

Their excellent run of nine wins in the last 10 matches couldn’t come in a better time and Gerard Gallant’s team is looking very good right now. If they continue to play like this during the postseason, it could easily happen to see them, let’s say… in the conference finals.

William Karlsson, Golden Knights’ center, commented their recent run, stating that his team is currently producing best games since the start of the campaign.

“Right now we’re playing really well, maybe the best we have this season,” Karlsson told the reporters. “It’s been a little bit of a roller-coaster for our line this year; we weren’t happy with how we were playing. It’s nice we can contribute again.”

Though, it didn’t start very good for the guests, as they conceded after just 30 seconds of play. Logan Couture set the SAP Center on fire and announced fireworks of goals in this contest.

Some three minutes after that, Karlsson tied the result. It was his 20th score of the season. A little bit more than two minutes following that equalizer, Mark Stone turned the result completely on Knight’s side, after beating the pale Martin Jones on a power play.

It was Stone’s second game in a row in which he found a way to the net.

“We’re a very deep team. We’re going to give teams fits with matchup problems,” he said after the game.

Veteran star Joe Thornton leveled the score with 9:54 into the game.

Jonathan Marchessault’s latest two performances were absolutely fantastic. He dominated the ice against the Sharks scoring two goals and notching down two assists. His first of the match after 12;24 and forced hosts’ coach Peter DeBoer to bench Jones who allowed three goals in just 11 shots.

Nothing happened until the middle of the second period when Paul Stastny increased guests’ lead to 4-2.

In those moments, almost everybody in the arena realized that Vegas has the momentum and that they are closer to a win.

And that is what happened. Reilly Smith’s early strike in the third sequence made it 5-2, Logan Couture decreased that, but Marchessault quickly responded and brought back a three-goal lead to the visitors.

Cody Eakin put the stamp on Knights’ triumph with a little bit more than a minute and a half to go.

🎥 Marchessault: Even if we're not always producing offensively, we're generating more chances than we had been before. It's a good time for those to go in. pic.twitter.com/qVG9L2EBI8

— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) March 19, 2019

“I’m concerned,” said Logan Couture, the only bright spot in Sharks’ team. “We hadn’t played well, we’re giving up too many chances, too many easy goals. We’re giving up odd-man rushes. We have to get back to shooting the puck.”

San Jose (43-22-8) entered a cold-streak in the worst possible moment for them. Instead of chasing the first place in the Western Conference, and grabbing the opportunity after Flames’ recent struggles and several unconvincing performances, the Sharks lost three matches in a row.

Previously they won six consecutive. The defense collapsed in those three defeats allowing 15 goals. Fortunately for them, the next three contests are against the two last-placed teams of the conference, the LA Kings and Anaheim Ducks.

Winning against these opponents might boost Sharks’ morale a little bit, and what is more important, keep their position in the standings.

Right now, they are one point behind the Flames, who have one match fewer, but that isn’t what concerns their fans. Winnipeg Jets are only four points away with the game in hand, and that could be a problem.

Meanwhile, the Golden Knights (41-27-5) continue to roll, posting their third win in four days. They will be in a position to help San Jose when Winnipeg comes to town on Thursday. They have slim chances of catching up last night’s rival, but there is no doubt that Stone, Karlsson and the rest of the boys will continue to fight until the end.