On Tuesday, the Vegas Golden Knights (17-8-10) kicked off a four-game homestead against the San Jose Sharks (17-17-3). They dominated right from puck drop, scoring first and never looking back. Despite being outplayed in the third period, the Golden Knights cruised to a 7-2 victory.
The Golden Knights struck just 1:46 into the first period. Reilly Smith stripped the puck from Nick Leddy in the defensive zone and sent his other two linemates on a 2-on-1. Brett Howden took the puck up ice and finished off a give-and-go with Braedan Bowman.
In the first period, the Golden Knights outshot the Sharks 17-5. They generated 13 high-danger scoring chances and allowed zero.
The Golden Knights doubled their lead on the power play at 9:07 in the first. Mitch Marner held the puck, drifted deeper into the zone, and tried to find Pavel Dorofeyev back-door. Instead, Sharks forward Alexander Wennberg accidentally redirected Marner’s pass attempt past Yaroslav Askarov and into his own net.
Just over two minutes later, the Golden Knights scored again off another 2-on-1. Brandon Saad sprung Keegan Kolesar, who raced up ice, waited out a sliding Mario Ferraro, and set up Colton Sissons for a tap-in.
The Golden Knights struck again at 14:57 in the first. Pavel Dorofeyev forced a turnover and found Tomáš Hertl all alone in the slot. Hertl beat Yaroslav Askarov far-side, which extended his point streak to four games and prompted a goaltending change.
The Golden Knights tacked on another at 18:34 in the first period. Kaedan Korczak sent a stretch-pass to Ivan Barbashev, who entered the zone and chipped a pass ahead to Mark Stone. Stone blew past both Shakir Mukhamadullin and Mario Ferraro, took it to the net, and finished off a power move.
The Sharks got on the board at 6:49 in the second period. Tyler Toffoli found Macklin Celebrini all alone in the high slot, and the first overall pick sniped it past Carter Hart.
The Golden Knights dashed San Jose’s hopes of a comeback and regained their five-goal lead at 18:50 in the second. Brett Howden won an offensive zone draw, and Braedan Bowman sent the puck back to Kaedan Korczak. Korczak threaded a cross-ice pass to Reilly Smith, who one-timed it past Alex Nedeljkovic for the touchdown.
This season, the San Jose Sharks have come back from some improbable deficits. They faced a five-goal deficit, but pushed hard in the third period. They outshot the Golden Knights 14-4 and generated 17 scoring chances to Vegas’ three.
However, despite the Sharks’ push in the third, all the puck luck went the other way. This manifested in another Golden Knights goal 5:22 into the period.
After a mad scramble in front of the Golden Knights’ net, Ivan Barbashev made a play along the boards and took the puck up the ice. Barbashev threaded a cross-ice pass to Mark Stone, who set Mitch Marner up for a back-door tap-in.
The Sharks continued to press, and finally capitalized on one of their chances at 8:04 in the third. Carter Hart stopped Tyler Toffoli’s blast from the point, but Collin Graf banged in the rebound.
Graf’s goal did little for San Jose’s morale, and the Golden Knights cruised to a 7-2 victory.
Three stars of the game: Mitch Marner, Reilly Smith, Pavel Dorofeyev
