Golden Knights turn tables against Sharks on special teams

When the TV analysts and writers broke down the Western Conference quarterfinals prior to the start of the series, San Jose rightfully was given the advantage on the power play over the Golden Knights.

The Sharks ranked sixth in the league with the man advantage during the regular season and feature two elite quarterbacks at the blue line with Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson.

But thus far, that hasn’t been the case.

The Knights scored a power-play goal in each of the first three games and turned the tables against San Jose on special teams en route to a 2-1 series lead.

Game 4 of the best-of-seven battle royal is Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena.

“On a power play you just have to have everyone play their role,” left wing Max Pacioretty said. “If one guy’s not doing their role then the entire power play, I think, won’t be successful. But I feel we have the right guys in the right spots right now, and we’ve gotten rewarded.”

The Knights struggled to find continuity on the power play throughout the regular season and finished 23rd overall at 16.8 percent.

They entered the playoffs with one goal in their past 18 attempts on the man advantage and went 4-for-33 in their final 14 games, with three of those goals coming March 18 at San Jose.

But in the postseason, the Knights are 4-for-13 on the power play, with the line of Pacioretty, Paul Stastny and Mark Stone accounting for all the goals.

It’s the first time the Knights scored a power-play goal in three consecutive games since Dec. 9 through Dec. 16 when they converted in four straight.

The Knights went 2-for-6 on the power play in their 6-3 victory in Game 3 and registered 12 shots on three first-period power plays.

“It seems like it’s a pretty undisciplined series,” right wing Reilly Smith said. “I don’t think it’s going to go this way the entire way, but it’s definitely been a difference maker so far.”

Stone skated with forwards William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault and Smith on the power play until coach Gerard Gallant and his staff switched the units prior to the game against Minnesota on March 29.

Stone moved alongside his normal linemates Pacioretty and Stastny, along with Alex Tuch in the net-front position and defenseman Shea Theodore at the point.

“Right now we have the right hand shooters in the right position,” Pacioretty said. “That always seems to be the challenge on the power play is you want to put all your guys out there, but you need to have the right hand shooters in the right positions. It feels like we have that structure right now, especially with Theo being a lefty up top. It gives him the option to shoot or pass.

“Me and Stoney on our strong-side walls does the same. (Stastny) has always felt really comfortable at the goal line, and Tuchy is obviously the big body we want around the net.”

Another adjustment the Knights made on the power play is to temporarily ditch the neutral-zone drop pass used to help enter the offensive zone.

The Knights owned a 12-1 advantage in scoring chances created off the rush Sunday, according to the website ThePointHockey.

“Power plays, I think, are probably a big reason for that,” Smith said. “We had quite a few of them (Sunday) night. But also, they have puck-moving (defensemen) and D that like to jump up in the play. And especially when teams get down early like they were last night, they tried to create a lot of offense through their defensemen, and sometimes that has a negative effect and you can give up odd-man rushes.”

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