Breakout season continues for ex-Rangers ‘warrior’ after Game 5 OT winner with Golden Knights
Brett Howden’s best NHL season continued Tuesday night when the former New York Rangers center scored 4:05 into overtime to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild in Game 5 of their Western Conference First Round series at T-Mobile Arena.
Howden, whose 23 regular-season goals more than doubled his previous single-season high, put the Golden Knights up 3-2 in the best-of-7 series when he roofed a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle after taking Tanner Pearson’s backhand pass from below the goal line.
“He is a warrior,” teammate William Karlsson said. “He’s had a really good year, and I’m happy that he got to score, and it’s a huge goal. He’s scored a lot of huge goals for us this year. I’m happy for him, he’s a good dude and a great hockey player.”
The goal was his third of the series and second game-winner for Vegas, which can eliminate Minnesota with a win in Game 6 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul on Thursday night.
It was also the second postseason overtime goal of Howden’s career. His first came in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars in 2023, when the Golden Knights went on to win the Stanley Cup. Howden had 10 points (five goals, five assists) in 22 Stanley Cup Playoff games during the run to the Cup after finishing with just 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in 54 regular-season games.
The OT winner against the Wild came three days after Howden was so sick that he couldn’t take the ice in overtime of the Golden Knights’ 4-3 victory in Game 4. He said he still wasn’t 100 percent by the time Game 5 went into OT but was healthy enough to take his regular shift.
“Tonight as the game went on, I actually started to feel better and better,” Howden said afterwards. “I think I started to find my energy a little bit more. Obviously in overtime, you can see some games go the distance, but it was nice for us tonight that that wasn’t the case and we closed it out early.”
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Brett Howden thrived after Rangers traded forward to Golden Knights
Howden played three seasons for the Rangers, who acquired him from the Tampa Bay Lightning on Feb. 26, 2018, in the trade that sent defenseman Ryan McDonagh and forward J.T. Miller to the Bolts. But he never really clicked with the Rangers.
“I asked him if he wanted to be liked or respected,” then-Rangers coach David Quinn once said. “I told him I don’t want people tapping your shin pads. I want them in your face.”
Howden had 49 points (16 goals, 33 assists) in 178 games with the Rangers. His production and ice time declined each of his three seasons with the Blueshirts until he scored seven points — including just one goal — in 42 games in 2020-21. That made the No. 27 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft expendable – and the Rangers sent him to the Golden Knights on July 17, 2021, for defenseman Nick DiSimone and a fourth-round pick in the 2022 draft.
Suffice it to say that this is one trade then-rookie general manager Chris Drury might want to undo. DiSimone signed with the Calgary Flames as a free agent 11 days later and has bounced between the NHL and AHL ever since. Center Noah Laba, taken with the pick acquired by the Rangers, began his pro career in March with the AHL Hartford Wolf Pack, the Rangers top farm team, after three seasons at Colorado College, and is a promising prospect.
The energy and work ethic Howden brought to his bottom-six role with the Golden Knights quickly made him a favorite with his teammates and fans. Howden was a valuable role player during the run to the Cup in 2023, when he also showed there might be more to his game than just shutting down opponents and killing penalties.
The Golden Knights locked up Howden through the 2029-30 season by signing him to a five-year, $12.5 million contract ($2.5 million average annual value) on Nov. 22, 2024.
Howden showed his offensive chops this season by matching his combined goal output from his first three seasons in Vegas. His 40 points were 17 more than his previous career best, set with the Rangers in 2018-19, and he also had career bests in game-winning goals (4), plus-minus (plus-17) and face-off percentage (52.7 percent).
Suffice it to say the Rangers could use a player like that.
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