Golden Knights’ Oscar Lindberg strives for two-way game

WASHINGTON — Golden Knights forward Oscar Lindberg grew up Skelleftea, Sweden, a “small town” as he describes it where the winters are cold and the nights are long.

So basically the opposite of Las Vegas.

“It is, yeah,” Lindberg said. “It’s definitely way different.”

The northern Swedish city has produced plenty of hockey talent, and Lindberg is proud to be in a group of “around 15” players from the area skating in North America. He knows his game could even use some influence from his hometown right about now as he tries to tighten his defense.

“I think in general the Swedish style is usually pretty similar,” Lindberg said. “It’s usually two-way players.”

Lindberg’s pride for his community and its style of play has made the start of this season especially difficult.

The 26-year-old started the year as the team’s third line center, flanked by forwards Ryan Carpenter and Tomas Nosek, but struggled to find consistency shift-to-shift in the Knights’ first three games.

His line has shown flashes offensively but has yet to score a goal. And on the defensive end the group has been on the ice for four goals allowed, including a one-timer by Buffalo Sabres forward Jason Pominville on Monday where Lindberg was the closest Knight to the shot.

“We had some moments during the game where we felt good,” Lindberg said. “But also we let too many pucks into the back of the net when our line has been out there. We have to fix that and do a better job defensively.”

The 6-foot-1-inch forward said he and his linemates need to communicate more so they can avoid missing assignments and making mistakes. Talking on the ice is critical because he, Carpenter and Nosek can all play center or wing, a trio of interchangeable parts on any given shift that also must cover for each other.

And versatility is a big part of what Lindberg, who is set to become a free agent at the end of year, brings to the table.

“Lindberg played everywhere last year,” coach Gerard Gallant said. “I don’t consider him a center man or a left winger or a right winger.”

No matter what position he plays, Lindberg knows he has to elevate his defense to keep his line from getting trapped in its own zone. The more time he can spend out of his own end the better because

“You want to be a guy that gets put out there in the last 10 minutes,” Lindberg said. “Being on a line that isn’t at least even every game, you want to make sure you do that. We need to make sure we talk about that and do a better job.”

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Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.