Vegas Golden Knights center Paul Stastny (26) celebrates after scoring past New York Islanders goaltender Thomas Greiss (1) during an NHL hockey game at T-Mobile Arena, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018.
Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018 | 10:50 p.m.
Paul Stastny smirked when asked about his role on the Golden Knights, skating on the penalty kill and power play and everything in between.
“I’m an old-school, 200-foot player,” he said. “There’s not too many in this league. Some guys say they are, but they aren’t. We got a few on this team.”
The 32-year-old center embodied Thursday night what makes the Golden Knights so successful. He scored the game-winning goal with 13:35 left in the third to complete the comeback, then was tasked with defending it: killing a key penalty and fighting off the New York Islanders’ extra-man attack in the Golden Knights’ 4-2 win at T-Mobile Arena.
“The more of those guys you got, the better your team is going to be,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “Everybody has to be responsible both ways and it makes you a better team. You get more wins for sure.”
To have a player like Stastny is a luxury for a lot of teams. But Vegas doesn’t have just him. Forward Reilly Smith assisted on Stastny’s goal and was on the other penalty-kill unit when New York had a power-play chance with 5:34 to go, and he was on the ice with Stastny when defenseman Nate Schmidt’s empty-netter sealed the win.
William Karlsson does the same thing at center. He is Smith’s penalty-killing partner, and he scored the game-tying goal Thursday. It’s part of the reason the trio was among the top three in time on ice by forwards.
“It’s obviously more than just us three,” Smith said. “There are numerous players on our team that play the penalty kill and play the power play and are able to do it all. It’s important for our team’s success.”
What’s impressive about Stastny’s game is how new he still is to the team. He played the first three games of the year, then missed the next 30. Thursday was his fourth game since returning, and his first at home.
He has also played with five different wingers. He centered Oscar Lindberg and Max Pacioretty this week, and started Thursday between Alex Tuch and Brandon Pirri before Smith and Tuch swapped line assignments midway through the game.
Stastny said playing with everyone hasn’t bothered him. It’s part of the old-school mentality, and a product of a team with multiple players like that.
“When you play with good players it doesn’t matter,” he said.
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