The Vegas Golden Knights defeated the San Jose Sharks for the third time this season with a 5-4 shootout victory Sunday night at T-Mobile Arena.
The Golden Knights extended their point streak to eight games (5-0-3) with their third consecutive win, but it was not at all what Vegas had in mind after being unable to hold 3-1 and 4-2 leads in the third period.
However, the Golden Knights were able to recover in the shootout, as Jack Eichel and Jonathan Marchessault both scored, while Jiri Patera — making his first start of the season — shut down Kevin Labanc and Mikael Granlund.
After an emotional pre-game ceremony honoring the victims of the UNLV tragedy, the Golden Knights found themselves trailing early. In fact, the Sharks scored on their very first shot of the game, taking a 1-0 lead just 29 seconds into the contest.
Mario Ferraro scored short-side on a top-shelf shot from the point thanks to a perfect screen by Anthony Duclair, who left Patera no chance on the play.
The Golden Knights were unable to break through in the opening frame, but Marchessault scored his team-leading 13th goal of the season 5:34 into the second period to reset the score.
The Golden Knights’ first two power plays were ugly, but the third time was the charm for Vegas.
The suddenly-hot Chandler Stephenson scored his second goal in two games and extended his point streak to three games with a power-play strike late in the second. Alex Pietrangelo made the pass to the slot, and Stephenson used his skate to deflect the puck into the cage, making it 2-1 with 4:16 remaining.
For most of the second, Patera was under siege but held his own. He stopped all 11 shots he faced, including an early 2-on-1, though Vegas held San Jose without a shot in the final 6:08 of the frame.
Less than two minutes into the third, Brayden McNabb ripped a shot past Sharks netminder Kaapo Kahkonen to give the Golden Knights a two-goal lead. It was his third point in the last three games.
Eichel set up the play, extending his personal point streak to seven games, during which time he has collected four goals and 12 points.
Seconds later, Zach Whitecloud may have saved a goal by hauling down Justin Bailey in the crease, but the Sharks converted on the ensuing power play, as Mike Hoffman banked the puck off Kaedan Korczak’s skate and into the net.
That brought San Jose back within one just 2:13 after McNabb’s tally.
The shots were 10-1 San Jose through the first six minutes, but Marchessault netted his second of the night to restore Vegas’ two-goal lead just before the midway mark of the frame.
Once again, the Sharks responded almost immediately, forcing Patera to come up with a huge stop on Filip Zadina, who was in alone following a Vegas turnover. The Sharks got another power play immediately after but were unable to capitalize this time around.
That being said, the Sharks did find their way back onto the scoresheet, as defenseman Calen Addison — acquired from the Minnesota Wild earlier this season — beat Patera from the slot with 3:45 left in the third.
The Sharks pulled Kahkonen with roughly 2:30 to go, and Hoffman scored his second of the game to make it a 4-4 game with just 38.2 seconds left in regulation, forcing overtime.
Eichel had a few great looks in overtime, but Kahkonen turned aside his five-hole bid, while Tomas Hertl blocked his other attempt.
The Sharks had a chance in tight in the waning seconds, but Patera and the Golden Knights made it to the shootout. There, Vegas took care of business.
Though Nicolas Roy was unable to beat Kahkonen on the backhand, Eichel and Marchessault both scored, while Patera neutralized Kevin Labanc and Mikael Granlund for the win.
Towards the end of overtime, Korczak got tangled up with a Shark near the Vegas crease and left the ice gingerly.
In the end, the Golden Knights were outshot 39-27, but they came away with two points to win three straight for the first time since early November.
The Sharks have been overcoming multi-goal leads in recent games, so this was more of the same for San Jose.
However, the Golden Knights were outshot 17-8 in the third and gave up three goals, failing to secure the win through 60 minutes.
Even so, the Golden Knights did what they had to do to come away with two points.
“To come back here, we just want to take care of business,” Eichel said. “Good teams do that. By no means was it our best effort; we definitely want to clean some things up. But we did enough to get two points, and that’s what matters.”
Patera wasn’t lights-out, but he stood tall, particularly in the second period and in extra time. He is now 3-0-0 in his NHL career after turning aside 35 of 39 shots for an .897 save percentage in tonight’s win.
“Your opportunity presents itself when it presents itself,” head coach Bruce Cassidy said about Patera getting his first NHL action of the year. “Your job is to be prepared to go out there. I thought he did a really good job for us. … I was hoping we’d play better in front of him for everybody’s sake, but we also knew it was our fourth game in six days. … All in all, he certainly gave us a chance to win, and we did.”
Marchessault had a standout performance, with two goals and the shootout clincher, and Stephenson found the scoresheet for the third game in a row, which is important for Vegas moving forward.
It was another game where Vegas’ depth came through, as five of six defensemen recorded a point, with McNabb scoring a beauty.
“I try and stay consistent, just chip in when I can,” McNabb said. “Make the plays I see when they’re there, and if guys put them in, great. … Sometimes that’s how hockey goes. [Points] come in waves, and they’re coming right now. But for the most part, my job is to defend and defend well, and chip in when I can.”
It was a fantastic shot and an underrated pass from Eichel, who found McNabb across the zone from the far wall.
“He’s one of those players where he wasn’t looking at me, but I knew he knew I was there,” McNabb said of Eichel. “He’s so smart, and makes plays all game and creates chances everywhere. Credit to him; he’s been awesome. He’s playing great hockey right now.”
Whitecloud also extended his point streak to three games, tallying an assist after scoring goals in back-to-back games.
But it was a significant night for the Golden Knights, who returned home for the first time since the UNLV shooting.
Victims were honored in a moment of silence, and first responders were recognized and applauded.
In a sign of solidarity and support, the players wore special stickers on their helmets, while coaches wore lapels on their jackets.
Anthem singer Carnell Johnson wore a UNLV jersey during his performance, and the team sold t-shirts (which sold out before the game started), with all proceeds going to student services at UNLV.
“It’s the first game back,” Marchessault said. “It was not about the Golden Knights. … It was good to be back home and give our city a win.”
Cassidy said the tragedy probably felt a little more real as the Golden Knights returned to Las Vegas.
“I don’t know if that affected us today or not, because we certainly weren’t mentally sharp. So there was probably a little bit of that and a little bit of our schedule that played into why we made some atypical mistakes out there. At the end of the day, you find a way to win a game, and hopefully down the road we can do what we can to help heal the city again.”
Cassidy credited the players for staying focused and finding a way to win.
“At the end of the day, it was a mental battle all day for us for different reasons, but we were able to come through,” he said.
With the win, the Golden Knights are 19-5-5 on the year and remain in first place in the Pacific Division and Western Conference with 43 points through 29 games.
The Golden Knights have three games remaining on this homestand, including bouts against Calgary, Buffalo and Ottawa on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday, respectively.
(Photo of Golden Knights, Kaapo Kahkonen: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports)