Patrick Brown gives Golden Knights lift on moment’s notice

Two games, three shots, two goals.

Patrick Brown’s Golden Knights career is off to a pretty good start. The 27-year-old was thrown into a postseason game Saturday — almost six months after he was called up for his Knights debut — and hardly looked out of place.

Brown won the opening faceoff against three-time Stanley Cup champion Jonathan Toews, scored his first playoff goal and helped Vegas defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 to take a 3-0 lead in the first-round series at Edmonton, Alberta.

It’s a turn of events few saw coming after the forward spent his first two-plus weeks in the bubble practicing with the Knights’ taxi squad. He didn’t even know he was starting until after his pregame nap.

“I just showed up with a snack, and I was in the lineup,” Brown said.

Brown has proved to pretty adaptable in his first season with the Knights. He spent most of the year with the American Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves, but scored in his only NHL game Feb. 23 against Anaheim.

He kept in shape during the pause, while his girlfriend worked as a physician’s assistant in New York City, and hit the ground running in training camp. He earned a spot on the Knights’ expanded roster and played Saturday when centers Paul Stastny and Tomas Nosek were ruled unfit to play by the team.

“We talked to that group before we got here that we were going to be using people from that (taxi squad) group at important times during our playoff run,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “They had to be ready, and he showed up and did a great job for us.”

There was plenty to like about Brown’s ninth career playoff game. He won eight of his 12 faceoffs. His line created three scoring chances and allowed none.

The highlight, however, came in the second period.

Right wing Alex Tuch and defenseman Nate Schmidt had a nifty give-and-go on a transition play that resulted in Tuch firing a shot on Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford. The rebound crept just outside the crease, and Brown hustled to beat Chicago defenseman Adam Boqvist to the loose puck.

Brown tapped it in to score what ultimately was the winning goal with 4:37 left in the period. It was a play that showed, even though the Knights have plenty of high-end talent, their depth is what gives them a chance to go far during the postseason.

“He was a monster today,” Schmidt said. “To be able to put one in the net there and follow up a play, that’s the boost, that’s the type of plays that give you the edge in a game like this. Depth scoring is incredibly important in the playoffs, and it goes to show that he’s the one who gets the game winner.”

Stastny update

DeBoer said it’s possible Stastny could play Sunday after missing Saturday’s game. The center played the entirety of the Knights’ 4-3 overtime victory Thursday.

Stastny had the primary assist on right wing Reilly Smith’s winning goal.

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