(Photo Credit: @GoldenKnights on X/Twitter)
Understandably, Mitch Marner hogged most of the headlines following his legendary Game 3 performance. He scored the fastest hat trick in Stanley Cup Final history, beating Rocket Richard, the man the scoring title trophy is named after. He became the first player ever to record four points in the same period, and he became the highest point scorer in playoff history in his first season with a new team.
Marner loudly wrapped his figurative arms around the Conn Smythe while he and the rest of the Golden Knights exhaled following a double overtime epic that will go down as one of the best games in NHL history.
#93 isn’t doing it alone, though. Just about every time he’s hopped over the boards since the Anaheim series, he’s been the right wing on a line with William Karlsson and Brett Howden. That trio has now amassed an unbelievable 25 goals and 52 points in a combined 51 games (19 for each of Marner and Howden, 13 for Karlsson).
This is all while being Vegas’ most dominant shutdown defensive line as well. Marner leads all players in the postseason with a +16 rating. Howden’s +13 is only behind teammate Shea Theodore, and Karlsson is in the top 10 with a +10 despite missing an entire round.
In 13 games, since the opener of Round Two, the trio of Karlsson, Marner, and Howden has shared the ice for 128:31. They’ve been out there for eight goals, including the double OT game-winner in Game 3, and have conceded just three times. That’s an average of 1.4 goals against per 60 while scoring 3.7. In other words, because forwards only play about a third of the game at most, they score a little more than one goal per game while allowing only one per three games.
They’ve stepped it up even further in this series against Carolina too. They are the only VGK forward line to outshoot opponents at 5-on-5, they are a +2 as a group scoring five goals, including two of three of Marner’s hat trick (Howden was not on the ice yet for the third one), and they’ve completely shut down the Hurricanes’ best players.
William Karlsson TOI and Goal Differential vs. CAR
K’Andre Miller – 28:49 / +4
Sean Walker – 28:16 / +5
Logan Stankoven – 27:58 / +3
Jackson Blake – 27:34 / +3
Taylor Hall – 27:00 / +1
Jaccob Slavin – 17:16 / +1
Jordan Staal – 11:42 / -1
Andrei Svechnikov – 11:24 / +3
Sebastian Aho – 10:28 / +2
No matter which matchup this group has gotten, they’ve controlled play. Plus, they are doing it while starting in the defensive zone more often than many of their teammates. Karlsson and Howden are both around 57% D-Zone starts while Marner has been offered a few extra shifts with Jack Eichel and Mark Stone which pushed him up to 50%.
Karlsson, Marner, and Howden have been the driving force for the Golden Knights both offensively and defensively, and it’s giving John Tortorella the freedom to choose better matchups for everyone else. Eichel and Stone saw much more of Jarvis and Svechnikov in Game 3, and took advantage of it, outshooting them 5-2. He was able to get the 4th line out against Carolina’s 4th line much more often which limited Janokowski and Robinson’s defensive impact against VGK’s top six. And it has allowed Sissons and Hertl the opportunity to take on a more defensive role in slowing down Stankoven and Hall.
Vegas’ new super line of Karlsson, Marner, and Howden has become the engine for the Golden Knights. They’ve done everything and more for this team since Karlsson returned to the lineup, and now they’ve got themselves and their teammates two wins away from the holy grail.
