The Vegas Golden Knights (11-6-8) snapped a four-game winless streak with a 4-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks (12-11-3) Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
Vegas scored four consecutive goals to take a 4-1 lead midway through the second period. San Jose answered with two goals before the end of the period, but the Golden Knights held the Sharks to five shots on goal in the third period to close out the win.
Notably, it was the first NHL win for goaltender Carl Lindbom, who turned aside 18 of 21 shots for an .857 save percentage in his seventh start.
Reilly Smith and Brandon Saad served as healthy scratches in the second half of the back-to-back, with Cole Reinhardt and Alex Holtz drawing in. Reinhardt assisted on Colton Sissons’ first goal as a member of the Golden Knights. Vegas also got goals from Tomas Hertl, who scored twice, and Mitch Marner, who now has five goals and 25 points in 25 games.
However, it was the Sharks that opened the scoring, as Will Smith scored 7:34 into the opening frame.
Falling behind has been a common theme for the Golden Knights of late. This time, however, Vegas was able to even things up before the end of the first period, as Hertl scored his first of the night against his former team at 16:13.
The two clubs combined for five goals in a busy second period, with Vegas netting the first three.
Sissons got the party started with his first of the season. It was a full-line goal for the fourth line, with Sissons driving to the net to capitalize on a rare 4-on-1 opportunity.
Marner extended Vegas’ lead to 3-1 less than two minutes later, demonstrating excellent patience and poise with the puck on a wraparound strike.
After a previous power play proved unsuccessful despite the fact that Vegas managed to keep the puck in San Jose’s end for the entire two minutes, the Golden Knights’ man-advantage broke through on its second chance of the game, with Hertl deflecting a shot from Marner to make it a 4-1 game.
However, the Sharks answered with a power-play goal of their own, with Smith scoring his second of the game thanks to an ugly turnover by Keegan Kolesar.
Then, an ill-advised play by Holtz along the boards led to William Eklund’s breakaway goal with just 25 seconds remaining in the middle frame, cutting the deficit to just one.
But Vegas took care of business in the third period.
The Golden Knights did an excellent job defending and holding the blue line as well as preventing pucks from getting through to Lindbom through the first half of the period. Things got a little dicey later on, and the final few minutes of the frame were far from ideal. Vegas took a late penalty with 35 seconds left, setting up a 6-on-4 for the Sharks. However, the Golden Knights held on for the 4-3 win.
Despite giving up the first goal, the Golden Knights were dominant at the start of the game. In recent contests, Vegas has been forced to chase for the majority of the game. Tonight was different, however.
Bruce Cassidy said after Friday night’s loss to Montreal that the Golden Knights need to demonstrate more urgency at 0-0 or when trailing 1-0.
They did just that against San Jose, knotting things up with the all-important next goal after Smith gave the Sharks the 1-0 lead.
Vegas went to work in the second period, cashing in three times, including on the power play. The Golden Knights followed that up with a sound defensive effort in the third period to collect a much-needed two points to return to the win column.
It was a big moment for Lindbom, who has not had much goal support this season. In fact, Vegas scored just 11 total goals in his first six starts. Tonight, Lindbom had the advantage of a 4-1 lead. Though things were tight in the end, Lindbom earned the well-deserved first win of his NHL career.
Lindbom said the final two minutes of the period were “exhausting,” but he felt great relief after reaching this milestone.
But it wasn’t a one-man effort. The Golden Knights played a strong game, and it wasn’t as close as the score indicated. A few mistakes led to the Sharks’ goals in the second period. Otherwise, the Golden Knights were in control for most of the night, including in a well-executed third period in which Vegas blocked shots and shut things down.
Vegas’ transition game was much stronger than it has been in recent games, and getting a key goal from the fourth line was a nice change of pace. Also, Marner was more dynamic than he has been lately, recording a multi-point performance since Nov. 6.
The Golden Knights are now 1-1-1 through three games of this homestand, which wraps up Tuesday against the Blackhawks.