Momentum shines on Golden Knights when winning time arrives

SAN JOSE, Calif.

It’s one of the certain truths about a best-of-seven playoff series when sides are so evenly matched as the Golden Knights and San Jose, how the concept of momentum is best described.

The phenomenon only exists over small segments of time.

Fortunately for Vegas, it was on the right side when it mattered most Monday.

Fortunately for Vegas, William Karlsson continues his magical season.

The Knights grabbed back control of this Western Conference semifinal by outlasting the Sharks 4-3 in overtime before a disappointed 17,562 at the SAP Center, this after San Jose rallied from two goals down over the final 12:11 of the third period.

“It’s huge,” Knights forward James Neal said. “Proud of the guys, but we need to be tougher at the end there, myself included. Momentum is everything — game to game, play to play.

“It was hard to let go of (surrendering two late goals in regulation), but the guys are learning and playing with poise. It’s a nice win.”

It also means Vegas leads the series 2-1 and can avoid a return trip here later in the week with wins in Game 4 at the SAP Center on Wednesday and Game 5 at T-Mobile Arena on Friday.

I’m not sure how possible that is given what we have seen so far.

Absent of a Game 1 blowout for Vegas, the margin appears 6 or 7 games close.

The Oxford Dictionary of Sports Science gets really technical about it, using words such as cognition and physiology to describe either the positive or negative components of momentum.

It’s a lot simpler when it comes to a series such as the Knights and Sharks: Momentum exists within games, not between them.

It’s why you have finals like 7-0 for Vegas and then 4-3 in double overtime for the Sharks and then 4-3 for Vegas, the latter finished at 8:17 of overtime when Karlsson got free off a feed from Neal and beat San Jose goalie Martin Jones for the winner.

It’s why that even when losing Game 2 after a would-be game-winning goal was disallowed, the Knights seamlessly moved on to Monday.

It’s why you can see an NBA team win a playoff game by 20 and then lose by 10 and then win by 15 in a long series.

Athletes at this level have an innate ability — far more than fans — to forget and forge ahead.

It wasn’t the sort of storm you would expect to see George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg battling in an overmatched vessel, but the Sharks on Monday brought some serious waves of energy to start, which was to be expected given it was their first home game of the series.

That, and 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was on hand to open the locker room door for San Jose to enter through its large shark mouth, and if you know anything about Bay Area sports right now, Jimmy the Kid is royalty.

But despite being totally outplayed those first 20 minutes, Vegas never allowed itself to be swallowed by the surging Great Teal fish, escaping the period scoreless.

Fleury standing tall

Momentum changes in a blink. Vegas grasped control of it with three second-period goals, completely switching the early narrative. Then the Knights lost it.

The shifts of momentum were as dramatic as lines jumping on and off ice, the Vegas defense letting goalie Marc-Andre Fleury down over that third period, and for it the Sharks were able to rally and force overtime.

“We were obviously disappointed to give up those two goals in the third,” said Fleury, terrific yet again with 39 saves on 42 shots. “We just said to relax, have fun and be ready for overtime. It worked out for us.”

Yes, after one final, exhilarating, seismic shift in momentum when Karlsson sped down one side and flipped a wrist shot past Jones. It was Karlsson’s fourth goal of these playoffs and 47th overall this season.

So it goes that momentum affects either the perceptions of the competitors or, perhaps, the quality of performance and the outcome of competition.

Which is all fine and dandy, but this is what it comes down to: Believe in it or not, momentum is saved for small segments of time.

On Monday, the Golden Knights found themselves in enough positive ones to earn an incredibly important victory.

They were on the right side of it when a final goal was scored.

Now everything resets for Game 4.

“Now (the Sharks are) going to be a hungry team again,” Neal said. “It just goes back and forth, for sure.”

That’s how this whole momentum stuff works.

Contact columnist Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.