Center sparks Knights in season debut: ‘I love watching him play’

William Karlsson’s eyes grew wide as San Jose Sharks goaltender Vitek Vanecek tried to play the puck.

Vanecek saw the Golden Knights center chasing down a loose puck in the Sharks’ zone in the second period Saturday at T-Mobile Arena and left his crease to attempt to poke it away. Instead, Karlsson won the race. He retrieved the puck, saw a wide-open net and looked at left wing Tanner Pearson cutting to the crease for a potential short-handed goal.

Karlsson, in his first game back from an undisclosed injury, wanted to pass. But instead he held the puck, took a few steps and punctuated his return by firing it into the net in the Knights’ 7-3 win.

“I wanted to hit (Pearson), but I didn’t feel like it and then I shot it,” Karlsson said, joking. “Luckily, it went in.”

Karlsson did get the primary assist on Pearson’s first-period goal, giving him two points in his season debut.

The 31-year-old was out the Knights’ first eight games with his injury. Karlsson, who missed just 35 games the team’s first seven seasons, only took part in three training-camp practices before being sidelined.

“It’s never fun to sit on the side,” Karlsson said. “To be back, it was just happiness.”

Coach Bruce Cassidy intended to start Karlsson on a line with captain Mark Stone at right wing and Pavel Dorofeyev at left wing entering camp. Karlsson’s injury forced Cassidy to call an audible. Stone moved up to play with center Jack Eichel and left wing Ivan Barbashev, a switch that’s more than paid off.

Stone leads the NHL in points with 17. Eichel is tied for second with 15, while Barbashev has 12.

The trio’s success meant Karlsson needed new wingers Saturday. He started out with Pearson and right wing Alexander Holtz, and it didn’t take long for the group to click. Pearson’s goal came just 1:57 into the first period.

It wasn’t all perfect. The Knights trailed 7-2 in scoring chances with that trio on the ice, according to the website Natural State Trick. But, for a group that had never skated together before, there were things to build on.

“Sometimes you just kind of have that chemistry, and (Saturday) we did,” Karlsson said.

Cassidy trusts Karlsson’s smarts to let him adapt on the fly no matter who he’s put with. It helps that Cassidy knows Karlsson is going to be reliable in his own zone and can be trusted with difficult assignments.

“You know no matter who is on his wing, you’ve got a reliable guy in the middle,” Cassidy said.

The only downside to Karlsson’s return was it forced his teammates to take the ice Saturday morning.

The Knights (6-2-1) typically don’t hold a morning skate heading into the second night of a back-to-back — they beat Ottawa 6-4 at home Friday — but they did Saturday to tighten some things up and give Karlsson some reps.

“I’ll blame that one on (Karlsson),” said defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, laughing. “It’s all Karl’s fault.”

Despite the early workout, Karlsson’s teammates welcomed him back with open arms.

“He just does so many things throughout the game in all aspects,” Pietrangelo said. “It just gives us another option up front. He’s just a hell of a player. We know that.”

Karlsson’s return helped the Knights win their sixth straight home game to start the season.

The team has been on a roll offensively, with 19 goals its last three games. The defense is still a work in progress considering the Knights have allowed three goals or more seven times so far.

Having Karlsson back should help in that department.

“I like to watch him play,” Cassidy said. “That’s the simplest compliment. I love watching him play the game.”

Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.