Knights look to limit Capitals’ odd-man rushes in Game 3

Knights look to prevent Caps’ odd-man rushes

WASHINGTON — For the Golden Knights, the odds were not in their favor in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final.

The Washington Capitals had numerous odd-man rushes during a 3-2 win to tie the series heading into Game 3 Saturday at Capital Bank Arena.

“We just gotta make sure we don’t turn those pucks over,” Knights forward David Perron said Friday after practice. “Whether it’s going with speed or chipping everything in — really put pressure on their defensemen a little bit more. If we do chip it in, we have to make sure we have at least one guy going on the puck with full speed.

“We made some mistakes that we don’t make too often. Whether it’s created by their presence or pressure, whatever it is. We made too many of them.”

Perron said the way the Capitals set up their defense gives them opportunities to quickly go the other way with numbers.

“I feel like they hang back a little bit behind our guys,” he said. “They turn it around real quick. It’s a 2-on-1. It’s a 3-on-1.

“Me, (James Neal) and (Erik Haula) were watching our shifts, and at that time we were watching the game, it was 7-1 odd-man rushes. It was very in their favor. That’s something we can’t have for sure. It’s gotta be a lot more even.”

Defenseman Deryk Engelland said: “I think the first 10, 12 minutes of the game we played simple and I think we got away from that. We started turning pucks over and we know they’re a great transition team. We’ve got to just keep the game simple, keep playing the way that’s had us successful all year.”

Carrier close to being available, Gallant says

Knights forward Will Carrier took part in Friday’s practice and could be an option for coach Gerard Gallant in Game 3.

Carrier has been out with an undisclosed injury since May 4 when he was hurt in Game 5 against San Jose. However, he has been on the ice all week and Friday skated on what amounted to a fifth line along with Oscar Lindberg and Tomas Tatar.

“He’s close to being available,” Gallant said of Carrier. “We may not have him (Saturday) but certainly later in the series.”

Fleury would take goal over Holtby’s stick save

Marc-Andre Fleury was asked that as a fellow goaltender if he appreciated the great save Braden Holtby made on Alex Tuch late in Game 2 to preserve Washington win.

“Yeah, I think it’s an awesome save,” he said. “I don’t appreciate it, though. I’d rather it be a goal. That was a good save, though.”

Schmidt plans to turn right his time around

Saturday will mark Nate Schmidt’s second visit to Capital One Arena this season. The first time came on Feb. 4, and the former Capitals defenseman admitted making a wrong turn to the locker room.

That wasn’t the case Friday.

“It just brings back a lot of memories of being here,” he said after practice. “You know the rink well. It’s weird to be on this side of things.

“Again, we were here once before. So you’ve got to get used to coming out of the other locker room and that type of thing, but I guess it’s just a little raised stakes than usual, Stanley Cup Final.”

More Golden Knights: Follow at reviewjournal.com/GoldenKnights and @HockeyinVegas on Twitter.

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