Brett Howden’s daughter is turning 1 this weekend. A party is coming. His family and wife Meike’s family are in town to celebrate.
The timing couldn’t be better that they’re in town, because Howden is going back to work. The Vegas Golden Knights forward is on track to return Sunday against the Edmonton Oilers after missing the last two months with a lower-body injury.
“I’m super excited,” Howden said after the team’s optional practice Saturday. “Being away from the team always sucks. Being back in my normal routine and back on the ice for them and tomorrow getting back in the lineup, I’m thrilled. I can’t wait.”
Howden was on his best stretch of the season — four goals and six points in nine games — before aggravating an injury that forced him to miss four games in October.
The 27-year-old played 16:31 his last game Jan. 10 against St. Louis.
Perfect timing
“We did a lot of work here getting myself ready to be as ready as possible for what we have coming up,” Howden said. “I’m not looking too far ahead, though. I know it’s a crazy schedule coming up, but that’s how it’s been all year with the Olympic break. I’m excited to get right back into it.”
The Olympic break gave Howden an extra three weeks to work his way back into form. He skated with teammates Friday for the first time since January.
Any other season, Howden said, could’ve resulted in more games than the 20 he had to miss.
“We had a good idea of what the timeline was going to look like. It was nice the majority of it was over the break,” he said. “I felt like the work from the medical staff and strength guys, I think we did a lot of good work and got back maybe even quicker than I thought.”
The timing also couldn’t be better for the Knights to have their versatile forward back in the fold.
Finding the balance
Howden playing wing or center gives coach Bruce Cassidy options to balance out the lineup.
It’s unclear where Howden lines up Sunday. Cassidy prefers Howden on the wing, but center would give the Knights balance further up the lineup by moving Mitch Marner back to right wing.
Though Cassidy reaffirmed Friday that he has no concerns of Marner playing down the middle.
“(Howden) always finds a way to play 15, 16 minutes, and that’s with no power play time,” Cassidy said. “That’s where we miss him.”
Howden was coming off a career-high 23 goals and 40 points last season that rewarded him with a five-year, $12.5 million extension.
That production dipped because of the injury, but he’s still one goal from having his second straight double-digit goal season. He’s never done that in his career.
“I felt like most of the year, I was playing a consistent game. The points come when they come, so I wasn’t really looking at it that way,” Howden said. “I was just frustrated I had to miss time.”
Enough time to rest
Howden is jumping right into the fire with 19 games remaining. His team needs all hands on deck after falling to 2-4 since returning from the Olympic break.
First up is an Oilers team that’s struggling as much, if not more, than the Knights (29-10-14).
Edmonton (30-25-8) is 2-5 in its last seven and would be out of the playoff picture via points percentage.
The Oilers have a one-point lead for third place in the Pacific Division over the Seattle Kraken, but have played two more games.
But the Oilers still have Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. It’s an important game for the Knights to get back on track while not losing ground.
Not a bad first game to test where Howden’s at.
“I’m looking to bring my game, to bring some energy, bring some pace and just try to work my way back to my game as quick as possible,” Howden said. “Hopefully it doesn’t take too long to get back to what I can do.”
Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DannyWebster21 on X.
Up next
Who: Oilers at Golden Knights
When: 6:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: T-Mobile Arena
TV: ESPN
Radio: KFLG 94.7 FM/KKGK 1340 AM
Line: Knights -115; total 6 ½
