To be sure, Howden put himself into position to score by blocking the shot and hustling down the ice, and his quick reflexes allowed him to get his hand and stick on the puck. At the same time, he was fortunate the puck bounced right to Hutton, then right to him.
When you're hot, you're hot.
"Sometimes you get the bounces," the 28-year-old said. "Like, for example, the goal I had last night, that was just kind of a crazy bounce. I think sometimes they go, sometimes they don't. I try not to let that waver, try to not let that dictate how I play or let that affect my game. I try to bring the same game every night."
Is Howden superstitious? Does rely on any rituals to keep his mojo going, say, taping his stick in a certain sequence?
Nope.
"I feel like I have the same routine," Howden said. "But if something doesn't go the right or the same way at the exact same time, it's not going to throw me off."
Howden just plays hard, honest hockey, the kind coach John Tortorella loves.
"I just put him in the spots on the ice that I think he needs to be in, which is a lot of different spots," Tortorella said. "He's a very versatile player for us and is doing a lot of the little things right."
A member of the Vegas team that won the Stanley Cup in 2022-23, Howden has three shorthanded goals, tied for the NHL record for a single postseason with seven other players, including Wayne Gretzky. He has three game-winning goals, first in the playoffs and tied for the Vegas record in a single postseason with four other players.
"I think nobody's really thinking too much about anything like that," Howden said. "Everybody's just focused on the task at hand and the opponent we're against and bringing our best team game every game, and I think that's just what our mindset is right now collectively as a group."
