Vegas Golden Knights forward Brett Howden credits former New York Rangers coach David Quinn for sitting him down and having a difficult conversation about raising his game after his second NHL season for much of his success as a pro.
The Carolina Hurricanes are the latest team probably wishing that discussion would have never taken place.
Howden has been on a tear this postseason, leading the league in playoff goals wth 13 after scoring 12 in the regular season.
He has three goals and five points through three games of the Stanley Cup Final as the Knights take a 2-1 advantage into Tuesday night’s Game 4 at T-Mobile Arena.
The 28-year-old has truly come into his own by finding consistency in both his skills and physical strength and attributes.
It’s what Quinn hoped to see when he sat Howden down about six years ago. Howden remembers it wasn’t an easy conversation to have, but Quinn believed it was necessary.
Howden remembers the advice he received that day fondly not just because it worked, but because Quinn clearly had his best interest at heart and wasn’t just trying to get him to find consistency for his own win-loss record.
The lesson itself was fairly straightforward. Howden possesses all the talent in the world, but he needed to find a way to consistently be more difficult to play against, every shift and every night, if he wanted to reach his potential.
Carolina, like Utah, Anaheim and Colorado before it, would say mission accomplished.
“He’s been consistent,” current Knights coach John Tortorella said Monday. “It speaks for itself how he’s played. He’s playing with a ton of confidence. It’s a good match on that line with (William Karlsson and Mitch Marner). He does a lot of things right and I think he just has that confidence in him right now.”
While it can’t all be traced back to Quinn, Howden is more than willing to sing his praises.
“He was great for me,” Howden said of his first NHL head coach. “He really helped mature my game, grow up and be more consistent. Essentially made me hard to play against night in and night out.
“I think finding that consistency was the toughest thing for me early on. He really opened up my eyes. We had some good honest talks and I thank him so much for helping me with that.”
Perhaps never was that more evident than in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Hurricanes.
Howden had both goals as the Knights took a 2-0 early lead only to allow Carolina to rally back for the win.
That didn’t make Howden’s goals any less spectacular.
The first was particularly representative of the growth in Howden’s game.
Howden was trying to get up the ice to take a pass from Marner, who had flung a backhand pass in the air toward the offensive zone. While Carolina defenseman Sean Walker tried to grab hold of him, Howden simply fought him off and found the puck before scoring a pretty goal.
He wasn’t about to be stopped despite being smothered as he entered the offensive zone.
Howden later made a move on Jacob Slavin in the neutral zone to get inside of him, then used his body to prevent Slavin from climbing him and getting back into the play.
Howden was able to shield him off with one hand while controlling the puck on his stick with the other and eventually scoring on Frederik Andersen.
It was two goals scored in very different fashion while showing off a big part of his growth.
“I think for me as I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to develop my body a little bit,” Howden said. “When I was young, I think I struggled with that, not being too physically mature. But in the playoffs, it gets more physical as the games go, but that’s something I’ve really enjoyed as the games get more intense and the games get harder to play and space is harder to find.”
He’s becoming a problem for opponents on every shift, just like Quinn told him he had to do to stay in the league
Still he’s not getting too carried away with the accolades. Howden keeps setting new marks and will break a tie with Jonathan Marchessault for goals in a single postseason in franchise history the next time he finds the net.
He also has three game-winners during this playoff run, including just the second short-handed winner in a game that required multiple overtimes in NHL history.
Each time he scores, some sort of team or league record is tied or broken.
Just don’t ask Howden about his place in history.
“I have no idea. I don’t pay attention to that,” he laughed. “I’ll hear from some of my friends and family to show support, but that’s about it.
“We’ll wait and (reflect) after. Right now, we’re just trying to stay in the moment and take it one game at a time.”
He’ll just continue to be tough to play against.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AdamHillLVRJ on X.
