Karlsson playing at Selke-level with Golden Knights in Stanley Cup Final

LAS VEGAS --William Karlsson will look across the face-off dot at times during the Stanley Cup Final and see Aleksander Barkov staring at him. One is a perennial Selke Trophy contender and one-time winner. The other is Karlsson, who is playing like he belongs in that club too.

"We see it every day, but through the playoffs you've seen him rise, pick his game up even more," Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel said of Karlsson. "Everyone in our room has taken notice of it and it's good to see media take notice. We think the world of him. He's a world-class player."

Karlsson leads the Golden Knights and is tied for second in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with 10 goals in 17 games entering the Stanley Cup Final against Barkov and the Florida Panthers. Game 1 is at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; TNT, TBS, truTV, SN, CBC, TVAS).

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Karlsson scored five goals in six games against the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final, including two in Game 1 and two in a 6-0 win in Game 6 at Dallas on Monday. The center has scored in all three of the Golden Knights' series-clinching wins against the Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers and Stars.

"I've been feeling good, and the puck is bouncing my way," Karlsson said.

But Karlsson has also had the job of shutting down the opponent's top forwards at 5-on-5. He's done it sublimely against some of the best players in the world like Winnipeg's Kyle Connor, Edmonton's Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and Dallas' Jason Robertson, Joe Pavelski and Roope Hintz.

Connor scored one goal in five games at 5-on-5 with Karlsson on the ice against him in the first round.

McDavid and Draisaitl were shutout at 5-on-5 in six games against Karlsson in the second round.

He was even against Dallas' top line of Hintz, Robertson and Pavelski at 5-on-5, with Karlsson matched up against that line and being on for two goals for and two against in six games.

In total, Karlsson has been on the ice for 15 goals for at even strength and six against in the playoffs.

"There's so many good players in this league and if you're put against a line every night it's going to be challenging," Karlsson said. "You have to embrace that and make the most of it. On a good night, you score more than them and win the head-to-head. It's a challenge for sure, but I try to own it and embrace it."

Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said Karlsson's role for the Golden Knights resembles Patrice Bergeron's with the Boston Bruins.

Cassidy, in his first season with Vegas, coached Bergeron and the Bruins from 2017-22. Bergeron, the Bruins center, won the Selke Trophy voted as best defensive forward in the NHL twice under Cassidy (2017 and 2022) and five times in his career. He's a finalist again this season.

"As the year went on, I started to realize he has a lot of those attributes," Cassidy said. "Now it's certainly a little more of that, where in a situation if there is a line out there that we see a matchup benefit for us, 'Karly' can handle that.

"The term I used to use with 'Bergy' is he put out a lot of fires for his wingers, and his wingers, one scored 60 goals this year [David Pastrnak, 61] and the other is a 100-point guy [Brad Marchand], so they're really good hockey players. But he becomes a little bit of that defensive conscious of the line, and I see that in Karlsson. He never gets himself in bad spots where he can't play 200 feet, or rarely. That's the comparison to me."

Karlsson came closest to the Selke Trophy in 2017-18, when he finished sixth. Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar won it. Bergeron was third. Barkov was fourth.

But that was also Vegas' first season in the NHL and Karlsson scored 43 goals, which forced the voters to notice him and therefore appreciate his defensive acumen and attributes.

"He probably should have won it," Golden Knights captain Mark Stone said. "He scored 40 or so goals. He was like a plus-49. He killed penalties. He was on the power play."

Karlsson has not come close to the top six of the Selke Trophy voting since. His best was 17th in 2018-19.

He also hasn't come close to being a 40-goal scorer.

Funny how that works even if that's not how it's supposed to work for this award.

"I think that weighs on a lot of guys," Stone said. "The expectation of scoring 40 goals every year, there's not many guys that do that, but he still can score 20 and that's a lot of goals. At the same time he's playing the 200-foot game."

Karlsson has never stopped playing the 200-foot game, but he's again scoring at a high rate after getting only 14 goals in 82 regular season games, so his entire game has been coming into focus as the playoff field narrowed down to two teams remaining.

The details in his play, such as his reloads, stick positioning, backchecks, aggressive forechecks and board battles, especially with the matchups he's getting, are more noticeable because he's more of a threat offensively.

Not unlike 2017-18, when Karlsson and the Golden Knights burst onto the NHL scene, reaching the Stanley Cup Final, he's being lauded for how well he's playing to help Vegas go on a deep playoff run.

"The great thing about Will is his 200-foot game is probably as good as any player in the NHL and he's played it well even though he hasn't gotten rewarded offensively for all the hard work he has put in throughout the last couple of years," Golden Knights forward Reilly Smith said. "I think he's playing his best hockey of the season right now. He's finding the back of the net. He's creating opportunities. I think he's probably playing with the most confidence he's had all year."