Carpenter, waived by Sharks, to face them in playoffs with Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS -- Ryan Carpenter has plenty of motivation with the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Proving that the San Jose Sharks made a mistake in letting him go isn't at the top of the list for the forward. The Sharks placed Carpenter on waivers Dec. 12, and the Golden Knights claimed him the next day.
Carpenter will face his former team in the Western Conference Second Round beginning with Game 1 here Thursday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS).
RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Sharks series coverage]
"I try not to think about that very much," Carpenter said Wednesday. "It's the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. You don't need much more motivation than that. It'd be nice at the end of the series to be the one going on.
"[I] definitely want to win and definitely [am] super competitive, but I'm not really playing to prove them wrong. I'm just playing to win and playing for the guys in this room."
Carpenter had one assist in the first-round sweep of the Los Angeles Kings. But a better indicator of how well Carpenter has adjusted to life with Vegas is that he's playing regularly on a line with Cody Eakin and David Perron, ahead of Tomas Tatar. The Golden Knights gave up three draft picks to get Tatar in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings on Feb. 26.
Carpenter is on the third line, and Tatar is not among the top 12 forwards.
Waiver claims often do not work out quite so well. Carpenter had one assist in 16 games with the Sharks, then had 14 points (nine goals, five assists) in 36 regular-season games with the Golden Knights, making it hard for coach Gerard Gallant to take him out of the lineup.

It was an uncertain time for Carpenter when the Sharks put him on waivers. The 27-year-old has spent his career defying expectations. He grew up in a nontraditional hockey market in Oviedo, Florida, near Orlando, and went undrafted out of Bowling Green State University before signing with the Sharks as a free agent March 25, 2014.
Carpenter said that once he was put on waivers, he braced himself for an assignment with the Sharks' American Hockey League affiliate in San Jose.
"I didn't know what was going to happen for 24 hours," said Carpenter, the only player in the series who has played for the Sharks and Golden Knights, who are in their inaugural season. "My agent really didn't know. No one really tips their hand. So no one really tells you if they're going to pick you [up] or not.
"It was pretty tough when they told me I was getting put on waivers, which meant if I didn't get picked up, I'd be down in the minors, which I didn't want. And crazy how things can turn around so quickly. I'm just thankful for the opportunity."
The success of the Golden Knights eased his transition. Vegas (51-24-7) won the Pacific Division, becoming the first modern-era expansion team from any of the four North American professional sports leagues to start from scratch and finish first in its division (excluding mergers and all-expansion divisions), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

The Golden Knights also set records by a first-year NHL team for wins, points (109), home wins (29) and road wins (22).
"It's nice to come to another team that's winning," he said. "So when you get in the lineup you don't have too much pressure on you. Everyone was super welcoming here."
The second round of the playoffs feels like light years away from the day he was put on waivers.
"We couldn't really do anything," Carpenter said. "So my wife (Alexis) and I just prayed that God would surprise us. And he did."