Howden raises game in Stanley Cup Playoffs, helps Golden Knights reach 2nd round

LAS VEGAS -- Brett Howden lights up when he talks about the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“It’s the best time of year,” the Vegas Golden Knights forward said with a smile. “Just, everything. Every shift, everything’s on the line, and I’ve always really loved that, just the hardness of the game, the style of it. I’ve just always been really attracted to that, and I’ve always really enjoyed playing it.”

It seems to bring out his best.

The 28-year-old had five points (four goals, one assist) in the last three games of the Western Conference First Round -- including two short-handed goals, one a double-overtime winner -- helping the Golden Knights defeat the Utah Mammoth in six games and advance to play the Anaheim Ducks in the second round.

He has 163 points (74 goals, 89 assists) in 489 regular season games in his NHL career, but he has 20 points (13 goals, seven assists) in 49 playoff games. In other words, he has produced at a higher rate in the playoffs than in the regular season.

He has qualities that are so valuable at the best time of year -- versatility, grit, will and skill. In the first round against Utah, he played at center and on the wing, in the top six and the bottom six, and contributed to both special teams.

“He plays really hard,” center Nic Dowd said. “He uses his emotions to his advantage, and he’s not a fun guy to play against. You have a mix of a guy who has high skill, he can play all over the sheet, any position, and he’s miserable to play against. That’s a good hockey player.”

Dowd emphasized the word “good.” Defenseman Shea Theodore went further.

“Unbelievable player,” Theodore said. “He’s fun to watch. I think when you look at his game as a whole, he forechecks hard. He’s in the right spots. He is defensively sound. But I think at the same time, he’s scored a lot of really big goals for us in key times, and sometimes that might get overlooked, but not in this locker room.”

The play of the series came in double overtime of Game 5.

The best-of-7 series was tied 2-2. The next goal would be a massive turning point. On the penalty kill, Howden and forward Mitch Marner won a puck battle along the boards in the offensive zone, and Howden scored on a wrist shot from the right circle at 5:28, giving Vegas a 5-4 win and 3-2 series lead.

Howden became the second player to score a short-handed winner in a multiple-OT game since 1933-34, when the NHL began tracking goals by type. (The first? Vegas forward Tomas Hertl, who did it with the San Jose Sharks against the Golden Knights in the first round in 2019.)

“The only reason that puck popped out was because of Mitch,” Howden said. “I mean, yeah, I was in there trying to forecheck too. But I was on my way out to get out of there, so we didn’t have an odd-man rush going the other way, and Mitch made a really smart little play -- like, so subtle, but it’s such a good little touch that he made just to lay it in an area, and it kind of opened me up to have some space. So, yeah, and then at that point, it’s just like, you’re kind of that close to the net. You’re just trying to get a shot on net.”

Howden was being modest.

“If you work hard and you do the right things, you’re going to get in the right areas, and then your skill will have an opportunity to take over, and that’s I think what we saw (in Game 5) with the shorthanded goal,” Dowd said. “He didn’t do anything that he wasn’t supposed to do. He got up-ice pressure, he was physical down low, he won a puck battle, and then he puts himself into an area that he has an opportunity to use his skill and use his hockey IQ. And then he scores a goal, right? None of that happens unless he does the right things away from the puck and then he’s hard on the puck. It’s not one without the other.”

Howden played mostly center with Moose Jaw of the Western Hockey League from 2013-18. He had the skill to put up 81 points (38 goals, 43 assists) in 58 games in 2016-17, then 75 points (24 goals, 51 assists) in 49 games the next season.

With the New York Rangers from 2018-21, he also played mostly center. He said when coach David Quinn put him on the wing, Quinn would tell him it was to free him up from defensive responsibilities so he could skate.

Since joining the Golden Knights in 2021-22, Howden has bounced between center and wing more often. He had 10 points (five goals, five assists) in 22 playoff games when Vegas won the Stanley Cup in 2023 and set NHL career highs in goals (23), assists (17) and points (40) in 80 regular-season games in 2024-25.

This season, he had 22 points (12 goals, 10 assists) in 58 games, missing two stretches with lower-body injuries. After John Tortorella became coach March 29 and started shuffling the lineup, Howden was comfortable bouncing around, because he had done it under Bruce Cassidy already and enjoyed it.

“I think that really helped me, honestly,” Howden said. “It kind of helped me see the game in a different way sometimes when I needed a little refresher. …

“I think when I’m on the wing, I have the ability to fly out of the zone a little more, maybe push the (defensemen) back, which gives our center a little more time, more ice with the puck. That’s the way I kind of look at it. But then when I go to center, I kind of like getting the puck in the middle and being able to skate too. So yeah, I mean, I like both.”

It sounds like he just likes to play hockey.

“Yeah, exactly,” he said with a laugh. “I have a forechecking mindset. I’m a north-south player, which I learned under Bruce. He really wanted me to do that, and the more I’ve done that, I like getting pucks in deep and forechecking.”

Tortorella loves that too. We’ll see how Tortorella handles the lineup in the second round, but he seemed to find a good second line later in the first round with Howden on the left wing, Marner at center and Mark Stone on the right wing. 

“He’s a guy that moves his feet very well,” Marner said of Howden. “He finds open ice. He’s not afraid to get in there and throw his body around as well, and (he) makes nice little subtle plays as well. Yeah, I’ve enjoyed playing with Brett for the last little bit here. I think we’re growing chemistry as it goes on, so yeah, it’s been great just to see him explode with confidence and making plays. He does so many great things for us on that ice.”