Golden Knights’ Marchessault adapts to playoffs’ physical play

Jonathan Marchessault gathered the puck along the wall, looked up and immediately noticed he was in the sights of 6-foot-3 Los Angeles Kings defenseman Christian Folin.

The Golden Knights forward knew what was coming.

“Obviously, I had to take a big hit there,” Marchessault said, “but at the end of the day, it’s all worth it.”

Moments before he’d caught a stiff shoulder from Folin early in the second period of Game 4 of the Western Conference quarterfinals, the diminutive Marchessault backhanded the puck toward center ice for oncoming teammate William Karlsson.

Karlsson swooped down the left wing, and defenseman Brayden McNabb eventually finished off the odd-man rush with the lone goal in the Knights’ series-clinching victory.

Marchessault didn’t receive an assist, but the sequence started with his willingness to absorb punishment to deliver the proper pass.

“That’s what wins hockey games,” Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. “Marchy took a big hit and chipped the puck up, and we made an unbelievable couple of passes from our top line and (McNabb) joins the rush. It was a great play for a winning goal.”

Marchessault was the Knights’ second-leading scorer with a career-best 75 points (27 goals, 48 assists) during the regular season and garnered plenty of attention from Los Angeles, notably defenseman Drew Doughty, in the opening round of the playoffs.

It should be much of the same when the Knights face San Jose in the Western Conference semifinals.

“We’re facing the best defensemen in the league every night, so it’s harder, but it’s nothing we can’t handle,” Marchessault said. “We’re trying to help each other out there, and we got some big goals.

“At this time of the year, it doesn’t matter who gets the goals or who gets the points, and stuff like that. I’m all about making the right play at the right time.”

Marchessault had one assist in seven playoff games over two seasons with Tampa Bay and is experiencing his first postseason in the role of a primary scorer.

He had two assists against Los Angeles and produced 17 shots on goal in the four games, which tied for the team lead with James Neal.

But Marchessault also let his frustration boil over late in the second period of Game 3 when he popped Doughty in the back of the head after taking a shot from the Norris Trophy finalist.

“Marchy took a couple retaliatory penalties, and we talk about that. You can’t do that in the playoffs time,” Gallant said. “But, they’re going to be on the top players, and that’s the way playoff hockey is. Marchy is a good player for us. He’s a character guy, and he learned some lessons in playoffs.”

Marchessault’s third son (William) was born April 12 between games 1 and 2 of the opening-round series, and the long break before the start of the best-of-seven against San Jose allowed him to help wife Alexandra at home.

“It’s definitely a busy time right now,” Marchessault said. “I think at (this) time of the year, you need to be smart with what you do. You’ve got to take care of your body, and that’s what I’m doing right now.

“We all rely on each other here, and whatever happens in my personal life, when you come to the rink, you need to be ready to give your 100 percent. When you go back at home, I need to be a good father and be present. I think I’m well-balancing that.”

Los Angeles matched its top line against Marchessault, Karlsson and Reilly Smith as often as possible, and San Jose coach Pete DeBoer is expected to use a similar system.

That means Marchessault can expect to see plenty of San Jose’s shutdown line of forwards Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl and Mikkel Boedker along with the defense pair of Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Justin Braun.

“(Marchessault) is a good player. He’s feisty and he’s tough on the puck. Playoffs magnifies that,” Smith said. “I didn’t see there was any extra attention put on him (against Los Angeles), but he’s a good player and he’s able to fight through that stuff. What he showed all year, he’s going to show in the playoffs, too.”

More Golden Knights: Follow all of our Golden Knights coverage online at reviewjournal.com/GoldenKnights and @HockeyinVegas on Twitter.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.