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Sharks stun Knights for 1000th
win
3rd period comeback highlights victory in
Vegas
T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas has been a house of
horrors for the Sharks. San Jose hasn't performed very well in Sin City since
the Golden Knights entered the league last season, Vegas entered Thursday night
on a 7 game winning streak, having won 8 of their last 10, so this one was
tailor made for a Sharks let down. They threw us all a curveball, by overcoming
a 3rd period deficit to stun the Golden Knights 3-2 with a pair of 3rd period
goals.
It was the second 7-game winning streak the Sharks have snapped
in the last 5 days. San Jose beat the Tampa Bay Lightning last Saturday to
serve up the first regulation loss for the hottest team in the league in over a
month. Vegas had hop-scotched past the Sharks in the Western Conference and
Pacific Division standings with a nice run to end 2018 and into the net year.
This one started like many of the Sharks previous games with Vegas.
The Golden Knights looked to run roughshod over San Jose like they did on
several occasions last season.
Vegas wasted no time trying to blitz
the Sharks early. Tomas Nosek sent a shot on goal from the left side after
Martin Jones deflected a Ryan Reaves shot. San Jose failed to get a body on
Nosek who beat Tim Heed to the spot at the bottom of the left circle before
uncorking his 6th goal of the season.
San Jose was limited to a single
shot on goal through the first 14 minutes of the 2nd period. A chance that
clanked off the crossbar midway through the period seemed like it might be the
closest the Sharks would come to scoring.
Tomas Hertl remedied that by
snapping a shot past Marc-Andre Fleury at 14:05 of the period. Hertl had Nate
Schmidt in his face as the Golden Knights defenseman was backskating in front
of the Sharks forward. That may have screened Fleury from seeing the shot that
found twine for Hertl's 16th goal of the season.
Lukas Radil missed on
a golden opportunity when he was left unattended near the right post early in
the 3rd period. Logan Couture drew the attention of two Golden Knight
defenders, then snapped a pass through the slot to Radil. The Sharks rookie
whiffed on the feed, snapping his head back in disbelief.
Vegas cashed
in on a seeing-eye shot from Jon Merrill from the blueline that traversed
through traffic and past Jones. Brandon Pirri beat a Shark to a puck along the
left wing boards before moving it back to Merrill at the point. Several players
were in the lane, aiding the Golden Knights defender bag his first goal of the
season.
Melker Karlsson re-tied the game at 2-2 with a shot off a
rebound form just outside the right post at 7:24. Brent Burns sent in a big
blast from the left point, forcing the puck to kick back out to Karlsson. It
was Karlsson's 7th tally of the season, but it couldn't have come at a more
opportune time. San Jose had been struggling to get pucks on net, but his 2nd
shot of the game found twine.
San Jose grabbed their first lead of the
game 39 seconds later when Hertl threw a puck on net, banked off Joonas
Donskoi's chest and in to the net. Hertl had tried jamming a puck past Fleury
moments earlier, then the puck somehow kicked back out to the Sharks forward as
he circled back to the front of the net out of the right corner.
Fleury setup a Sharks power play with 6 minutes left
in regulation, but San Jose could not cash in. Brendan Dillon made things more
interesting when he slashed Pirri with 3:44 left in regulation.
Vegas
head coach Gerard Gallant pulled Fleury to give the Golden Knights a 6-on-4
power play, but his special teams couldn't get a puck past Jones. San Jose
killed the penalty, but the skating advantage still tilted in Vegas' favor with
the empty net.
The last 2 minutes was a wild display of desperation
with the puck. San Jose was able to clear the puck out of the their end four
times in that span to preserve the lead and locked down their 26th win of the
season.
Jones finished the game with 36 saves, but he saved his best
play for that final 20 minutes. The Sharks goaltender celebrated the win along
with his 29th birthday. The Sharks were in more than a celebratory mood after
this one.
Game Notes:
* The Sharks bucked the trend of
wearing white on the road, and donned their black stealth mode jerseys. Not
sure Vegas will ever honor that request again.
* The win was a major
milestone for the franchise as they enjoyed the 1000th regular season victory.
* Joonas Donskoi's goal was his 8th tally in last 8 games. The goal
moved him into 8th on the team in scoring. After a horrid November, Donskoi is
climbing the stat line after a move to center.
* The game served as
the annual fathers trip, and coincidentally marked the first time San Jose won
at T-Mobile Arena in the regular season. The dads presence may have kept the
players focused on the task at hand. San Jose lost both regular season games in
Vegas last season. They did manage a playoff win there in a dramatic Game 2 win
in double overtime.
* The players serenaded Martin Jones with a
boisterous round of Happy Birthday while the Sharks goaltender was trying to
give an interview to Bay Area media.
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What did you
think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| VGK |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
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| 1st period - 1, VGK,
Nosek 6 (Reaves, McNabb), 1:34. |
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| 2nd period - 2, SJ,
Hertl 16 (unassisted), 14:05. |
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| 3rd period - 3. VGK,
Merrill 1 (Pirri, Tuch), 2:16. 4, SJ, M. Karlsson 7 (Burns, Labanc), 7:24. 5,
SJ, Donskoi 14 (Hertl, Kane), 8:03. |
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| 1st period - Radil, SJ
(hooking), 6:40; McNabb, VGK (tripping), 15:11. |
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| 2nd period - Burns, SJ
(tripping), 5:28. |
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| 3rd period - Fleury, VGK
(delay of game - puck over glass), 13:54; Dillon, SJ (slashing), 16:16. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
38 |
36 |
| VGK - Fleury |
27 |
24 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
10 |
5 |
12 |
27 |
| VGK |
13 |
12 |
13 |
38 |
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| Referees:
Joannette, Luxmore. Linesmen: Berg, Marquis. |
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