Odds are in Golden Knights’ favor to close out Winnipeg

Alec Martinez didn’t want to hear about any advantage, any lead in a best-of-seven series his Golden Knights team might have against the Winnipeg Jets.

“I think any game in the playoffs is a big game personally,” Martinez said Monday afternoon. “I try not to think about it in a way of (who’s leading). If you do, things like that can get the best of you.

“Try and approach every game the same way. Every game is important. Obviously, it would put us in a better position to win, but I don’t look at it that way.”

Guess what?

Later that night, the Knights were in a really, really good position.

They beat the Jets 4-2 at the Canada Life Centre and can end the series Thursday at T-Mobile Arena.

Odds favor this thing being almost over. In times when a team wins Game 4 to take a 3-1 advantage, it has gone on to win the series nearly 90 percent of the time. Those are known as great odds for the Golden Knights.

Physical play

“We have a lot of experience in this room,” defenseman Shea Theodore said. “We definitely don’t want to come back here, so we want to close things out, for sure.”

It was going to be physical, especially on Winnipeg’s side. The Jets had 21 first-period hits alone, a desperate team trying to cause havoc and tie the series in the process.

And it wasn’t the best start for the Knights, who still survived the first period 1-1.

Who had goalie Laurent Brossoit to thank for much of it. He was terrific throughout.

And also because of that depth scoring everyone talks about. It was Brett Howden this time, scoring his first career playoff goal off his own rebound via a blocked shot. Just another different name finding the net. Howden then scored an empty-netter to seal the victory.

You knew Winnipeg would come out fast. You knew its home crowd would be at its typical fever pitch, White Out and all.

But it’s not something Knights coach Bruce Cassidy believed should bother his side. It’s not something he felt should creep into anyone’s mind in the visiting room.

“If you’re ready to play, it shouldn’t matter where you play, especially this time of year,” Cassidy said. “That was our mentality in (Game 3). Winnipeg came into our building for (Game 1) and was very good. I think you have to establish your own tempo early on.”

They did in the second period for sure, moving the puck better and getting good play out of the defensive zone and more from Brossoit. They were just solid in the middle 20 minutes.

It wasn’t good for Winnipeg in a few ways. Already having lost its best defenseman in Josh Morrissey for the series with a lower body injury, the team’s leading goal scorer, Mark Scheifele, left early in the first period Monday with an upper body injury.

Didn’t let up

But you play who’s in front of you. And the Knights did.

And no one has been more consistent in doing so than William Karlsson.

He scored again Monday, his third of the series, a goal that allowed the Knights a 2-1 advantage. There hasn’t been a better overall player for Cassidy since the All-Star break than Karlsson. He just plays.

So did his team this time.

It sat back with a 4-1 lead Saturday and lost all of it, but continued to push this time when the Jets got to within 3-2. Push enough, that is. Still played well enough defensively to hold Winnipeg to 10 shots in the final 20 minutes.

“The biggest thing is how calm and collected things are if a situation doesn’t go our way,” Howden said. “There is no panic, no matter what the situation is.”

Here’s what it is: This thing is almost over. The odds scream of it.

Ed Graney is a Sigma Delta Chi Award winner for sports column writing and be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com. He can be heard on “The Press Box,” ESPN Radio 100.9 FM and 1100 AM, from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday. Follow @edgraney on Twitter.