William Karlsson has had unfortunate injury luck the past couple of years. Nothing has come close to what he dealt with this year.<\/p>\n
Six months off the ice, rehabbing whatever lower-body injury forced him to miss the most time of his NHL career.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the longest I\u2019ve ever sat out,\u201d Karlsson said. \u201cIt\u2019s been challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n
No better time than the start of a second-round series to get back into the swing of things.<\/p>\n
The Vegas Golden Knights<\/a> will have Karlsson back in the lineup for Monday\u2019s Game 1 against the Anaheim Ducks after their two-way center had been out since Nov. 8.<\/p>\n \u201cVery excited,\u201d Karlsson said. \u201cI\u2019m ready to go. It\u2019s been a long journey, but now I\u2019m here. It feels good.\u201d<\/p>\n Karlsson hadn\u2019t been seen since he recorded an assist in the first period of the early November matchup against the Ducks.<\/p>\n He made his first appearance on the ice with his teammates Friday prior to the Knights\u2019 clinching Game 6<\/a> against the Utah Mammoth.<\/p>\n Coach John Tortorella nor general manager Kelly McCrimmon made any assurances on how close Karlsson was at the time.<\/p>\n Karlsson was a full participant in practice on Sunday<\/a> but skated as an extra forward. He practiced in Henderson while the Knights were in Utah for Games 3 and 4.<\/p>\n \u201cI always had hope (that I would be back),\u201d Karlsson said. \u201cI think that\u2019s what kept me motivated through it all.<\/p>\n The 33-year-old Original Misfit missed a career-high 68 games this season after missing 29 the year before.<\/p>\n Karlsson has been with the team for the entirety of his rehab, but a lot has changed since he last played.<\/p>\n Starting with the new teammates in the locker room, such as defenseman Rasmus Andersson and forwards Nic Dowd and Cole Smith.<\/p>\n There\u2019s also the new voice behind the bench, but one that Karlsson is familiar with.<\/p>\n Tortorella was the coach in Columbus when the Blue Jackets left Karlsson unprotected in the 2017 expansion draft.<\/p>\n \u201cI looked at him yesterday, and he started skating around,\u201d Tortorella said, \u201cand I remembered that stride.\u201d<\/p>\n Karlsson was a bottom-six player in Columbus who primarily killed penalties. He missed two games in two years and had 45 points while playing under Tortorella.<\/p>\n The rest is history. Karlsson erupted with his franchise-record 43-goal season in the Knights\u2019 inaugural campaign and has turned into one of the team\u2019s pillars through nine years.<\/p>\n \u201cI called Bill after we lost him (in the expansion draft), and then he had that great year,\u201d Tortorella said. \u201cI called Bill and I said, \u2018Did I screw up?\u2019 \u2026 I think he had some magic with his linemates in (Jonathan Marchessault) and (Reilly Smith).<\/p>\n \u201cJust a good man. Doesn\u2019t speak a whole lot. Just plays the game the right way. Looking forward to having him back in the lineup.\u201d<\/p>\n Karlsson laughed when he was reminded of that conversation with Tortorella. He remembered that he was back home in Sweden when it happened.<\/p>\n \u201cA long time ago now,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m a little older now. Maybe it was just meant to be. It\u2019s just the way it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n The Knights are getting one of their best playoff performers back at the perfect time.<\/p>\n Karlsson is fourth in franchise history with 71 points. His 31 goals are third most behind Marchessault and captain Mark Stone for the most in team history.<\/p>\n Monday will mark his 107th playoff game with the Knights, which only trails defenseman Shea Theodore (111).<\/p>\n \u201cI always had the goal in the back of my head that I wanted to return and I always believed. That kind of kept me going,\u201d Karlsson said. \u201cBeing around here, just trying to be happy and positive \u2014 which I think I am, for the most part \u2014 that\u2019s how I believed.\u201d<\/p>\n Contact Danny Webster at dwebster@reviewjournal.com.<\/a> Follow @DannyWebster21<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"William Karlsson has had unfortunate injury luck the past couple of years. 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