Phil Kessel reached two NHL milestones, William Karlsson scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and the Vegas Golden Knights earned a 4-2 win over the host San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.
With Kessel on the ice at puck drop, the Madison, Wis., native officially skated in his 990th consecutive NHL contest, eclipsing Keith Yandle’s mark to become the league’s new ironman.
Later in the first period, the 35-year-old right winger skated half the length of the ice with the puck, edged his way around defenseman Matt Benning and lifted home his first tally with his new team for career goal No. 400 — becoming the 12th U.S.-born player to reach the mark.
Kessel, 35, started the streak on Nov. 3, 2009, against the Tampa Bay Lightning in his first game with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“I’ve had a fun time doing it,” Kessel said during an in-game ESPN interview. “I’ve played a lot of games.”
In a 2-2 game in the third period, William Karlsson deked Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson in the neutral zone and ripped in his third goal at 13:13. Just 62 seconds later, Mark Stone deflected in his second to set up Vegas for its sixth win in eight games.
The Golden Knights earned victories on back-to-back nights, having beaten the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1 on Monday.
Shea Theodore had a goal and an assist for Vegas, and Adin Hill won for the third time in three starts by making 29 saves.
In the Sharks’ third straight home loss to start the season, Nico Sturm scored for the second straight game, Matt Nieto netted on a breakaway and James Reimer stopped 27 shots.
In the first game of a six-game homestand, San Jose fell behind on the Kessel tally and trailed 1-0 after one period. In the second, Sturm notched his team-leading fourth goal by reaching out and deflecting in a long shot by Kevin Labanc at 5:33.
Late in the middle frame, Tomas Hertl whipped a long stretch pass to Nieto on a breakaway. The left winger then beat Hill on the glove side for his first of the season and a 2-1 San Jose lead.
Less than a minute into the third, defenseman Theodore tied it on a long shot that found its way through for his second marker to ignite the three-goal third period for Vegas.
–Field Level Media