Golden Knights on verge of sweep against Kings, preach discipline

LOS ANGELES --The Vegas Golden Knights were losing it -- their composure, the game. How they got it back, came back and defeated the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday showed one reason they've had a special season.
The Golden Knights were taking a pounding and trailing 1-0 toward the end of the second period, when Kings defenseman Drew Doughty hit forward Jonathan Marchessault in the back of the head twice. Marchessault knocked off Doughty's helmet in retaliation and got called for high-sticking with 1.1 seconds to go.

As Staples Center roared with boos, Doughty taunted Marchessault. He stared at him and smiled, clapping his gloves. Then he tapped his right index finger against his right temple, as if to say, "Not smart."
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But when the period ended, forward James Neal put his arm around Marchessault and had a word, and during the second intermission, the players policed themselves. They went on to win 3-2 and take a 3-0 lead in the Western Conference First Round, setting up a potential sweep of the best-of-7 series in Game 4 here Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVAS, PRIME, ATTSN-RM).
"[Neal] said his first few games in the playoffs, he was doing the same thing, so just to relax," Marchessault said. "I'm aware I'm going to get picked on. It's part of the game, and I need to keep my composure. It's playoffs, and I cannot get involved with that."
The Golden Knights feel like an established team, not an expansion team. It starts with the fact they had more favorable rules than past teams in the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, but general manager George McPhee and his staff looked for more than talent. They looked for players and people who would establish the culture they wanted to build.

They don't have a captain. But they have a players' coach in Gerard Gallant, leaders like Neal and a strong room overall, and they came together. During the second intermission Sunday, the coaches spoke for a minute or two, then turned it over to the players.
"As soon as we're walking out, the veteran guys are talking about, 'Hey, we've got to be disciplined. We can't take penalties. They always call the second penalty, not the first penalty.' Stuff like that," Gallant said. "So our guys are focused and ready to play, and there's enough veteran leadership in there to help that out."
"This is our room," Neal said. "It's the leaders' room. It's the older guys' room. You obviously have a coach that's going to guide you, put your systems in place, but we've got to have ownership in ourselves and in the guys next to you. That's something [Gallant] said from Day 1, and it's been great."
Neal, 30, played his 83rd game in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sunday. Marchessault, 27, played in his 10th.

"We're going to go through that lots throughout the playoffs," Neal said. "When guys are coming at you and being physical on you, slashing you, crosschecking you, giving you those little whacks, it takes some serious discipline not to turn around and do anything. But the second you turn around and hit someone back or touch someone, they go down or something happens, you're going to get a penalty."
Neal got his share with the Pittsburgh Penguins from 2011-14, taking 50 penalty minutes in 38 playoff games. He has taken 34 penalty minutes in 45 playoff games with the Nashville Predators and the Golden Knights since. He wished he could have taken back a slashing penalty Sunday, but he was trying to break up a scoring chance, not to settle a score.
"If I could change something going back in Pittsburgh when I was there, I think it was, you try to stay under control and stay disciplined when games are on the line," Neal said. "I think as you mature and grow older and play in those games, you can control yourself better. When things start getting a little bit ramped up, you calm yourself down and get ready to go out the next shift and be focused."
The Golden Knights must stay focused. The Kings became the fourth team in NHL history to win a series after trailing 3-0 when they did it against the San Jose Sharks in 2014. Eleven members of this team were on that team. Desperate, they might get chippy again in Game 4. Los Angeles was 11th in penalty minutes per game in the regular season (8:57); Vegas was 30th (6:49).

"I don't want guys running around out of position trying to throw hits when it's not part of their game," Gallant said. "I don't want Marchessault going and running guys in the corner. We've got some guys that finish checks and play a little harder than some guys. That's their roles. But I want our top players playing fast and playing quick and attacking."
They know.
"We've got to stay with it, stay in our system, play the right way," Marchessault said, "and I think we'll be fine."