Golden Knights Haula, Tuch find chemistry on same line

Chuck Fletcher may rue the day he allowed Erik Haula and Alex Tuch to leave the Minnesota Wild for the Golden Knights.

The Wild’s former general manager cut a deal with Knights general manager George McPhee to keep defenseman Matt Dumba while allowing McPhee to select Haula in the expansion draft and take Tuch as a bonus for leaving Dumba alone.

It was one of McPhee’s best moves in crafting the Knights’ roster.

Haula crafted a career season with 29 goals and 55 points, while Tuch’s rookie season netted 15 goals and 22 assists. Coach Gerard Gallant played the two on the same line, along with James Neal, late in the season when David Perron was injured. He kept the line intact during the Stanley Cup playoffs opening-round sweep of the Los Angeles Kings.

Don’t look for any changes when the Knights open their best-of-seven conference semifinal series against the San Jose Sharks this week.

“It’s been great,” Haula said of having Tuch on his line. “He’s working hard, winning battles, getting to the net. I think he’s comfortable being on the line with us. He’s keeping it simple and having a lot of fun as well.”

Tuch said of his linemates: “They’re amazing players. I think we’ve been able to develop some chemistry in the short time we’ve been together.”

Haula had one of the biggest moments of the opening-round sweep, scoring in the second overtime in Game 2 and giving the Knights a 2-1 win. Neal had created time and space, holding the puck until Haula got open. Neal hit him in stride, and Haula made a nice move to remain free and then beat Jonathan Quick to add another page to the Knights’ amazing history.

What never got mentioned was Tuch skating on the off-wing, which drew attention from the Kings’ defense and gave Haula a little less resistance to deal with once he got the pass from Neal.

“I was just trying to go to the net,” Tuch said of the big goal. “But (Neal) made a great play getting (Haula) the puck.”

For Tuch, this was all new. He had never played in a Stanley Cup playoff game. Would the moment be too big for him?

“It was a lot of fun,” he said. “Intense, but fun. You can feel how different it is on the ice. Everything seems magnified. One mistake and you can get beat. But it was a blast, and I’m excited about the next round.”

Gallant was never worried about Tuch handling playoff pressure.

“He’s been with us virtually all year, and he’s comfortable being out there,” Gallant said. “He’s a big, strong kid, and he fits in well with those guys.”

Haula? He had played in 24 playoff games prior to this year, and he’s been on both sides of the handshake line.

“It’s definitely more fun when you know you’re going to keep playing,” he said. “It’s devastating when you’re on the other side of it.”

Haula was also fortunate that he didn’t miss any time after he and the Kings’ Anze Kopitar got tangled up in front of the Los Angeles net during Game 3. Kopitar was lying on Haula and wouldn’t let him get up. And after Kopitar cross-checked Haula to the back of his head, Haula retaliated by hitting Kopitar with what appeared to be the butt end of his stick.

Neither action resulted in a penalty, and after looking at the incident, the NHL’s Department of Player Safety opted not to pursue the matter further. Haula played in Game 4, and he and Kopitar shook hands afterward.

“Kopitar’s a great player. I was never looking to hurt him,” Haula said before Game 4.

Haula, who is never satisfied even during his best performances, said no one is willing to settle for having won one playoff series.

“Your goal is the (Stanley) Cup,” he said. “That’s why you play. We believe we’ve got a team that can go a long way and compete for the Cup. But we haven’t come close to accomplishing what we want.”

As for his line, Haula said the key to carrying its play over to the next round is to keep skating and keep working and winning the battles in the corner, along with behind and in front of the net.

“I think our line played fairly well,” he said. “We had a lot of chances and had a lot of O-zone time. We didn’t spend a lot of time in our defensive zone, which was a good indicator for our line. I thought we played hard. We scored a couple of big goals, and we’re looking forward to round two.”

As for the Wild, who were shut out twice in losing their first-round series to Winnipeg in five games, Haula and Tuch might have helped Minnesota extend that series and possibly even defeat the Jets. But that’s something the organization will be left to ponder the rest of the spring and into the summer. Fletcher was fired Monday following nine years as the Wild’s GM.

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Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.