The Vegas Golden Knights scored three goals in less than five minutes, including two shorthanded goals in 23 seconds, in a 6-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks Friday night at SAP Center.
It was the Golden Knights’ fifth consecutive win and 13th come-from-behind win of the season. The Golden Knights, who have won nine of their last 10 games, improve to 24-8-3, which is the club’s best start through 35 games in franchise history.
It was the Golden Knights’ first game back following the holiday break.
But before the puck was dropped, the Sharks organization honored Tomas Hertl โ who played 712 games over 11 seasons with the Sharks โ with a tribute video. In his first game in San Jose since getting dealt at last year’s deadline, Hertl had a chance to salute the crowd, receiving a warm welcome with an extended standing ovation.
Once the puck did drop, however, it didn’t take long for the Golden Knights to get going.
For the second game in a row, the Golden Knights opened the scoring.
Just under seven minutes into the contest, Noah Hanifin scored in transition on an excellent shot to give the Golden Knights the early lead.
But Sharks defenseman Shakir Mukhamadullin scored the first goal of his career off an unusual bounce, as his point shot hit Adin Hill’s outstretched skate and found its way into the net to even the score at 1-1.
First overall pick Macklin Celebrini was noticeable in the first, but the two clubs were tied after 20 minutes despite the fact that Vegas led 15-6 in shots with a 75.58 percent expected goal share at all strengths.
Once again, the Golden Knights scored first in the second period but failed to hold on to the lead.
Mark Stone put Vegas up 2-1 with a goal 3:27 into the middle period, winning a battle in front of the net and sliding the puck around the pad of Alexandar Georgiev.
But it took San Jose just 2:26 to reset the score, as Will Smith went hard to the net and tapped the puck past Hill off a centering feed by Celebrini.
The Golden Knights fell into a lengthy lull in the second period when San Jose began to dictate pace. The Golden Knights went more than nine minutes without a shot. Though Hill kept the Sharks at bay for a whiel, Tyler Toffoli eventually took advantage of another favorable bounce to give San Jose its first lead of the night.
From behind the goal line, Toffoli attempted to send a pass to the slot; instead, the puck hit Nic Hague’s skate and got past Hill just inside the post.
The Golden Knights had a glorious chance on a late power play when Shea Theodore went coast-to-coast, but Georgiev turned aside the wrist shot to carry the Sharks’ 3-2 lead into the second intermission.
The Sharks flipped the script in the middle frame, leading 27-17 in Corsi, 15-9 in shots, 13-7 in scoring chances and 7-2 in high-danger chances with a 71.7 percent expected goal share.
Trailing 3-2 at the start of the third, the Golden Knights needed to re-establish the forecheck and get back to their game.
Things didn’t start well, as the Golden Knights negated their carry-over power play by taking a tripping penalty less than a minute in.
However, Vegas scored two shorthanded goals in just 23 seconds to take a stunnining 4-3 lead in the blink of an eye.
It marked the first time in franchise history that the Golden Knights scored two shorthanded goals while killing off the same penalty.
First, Brayden McNabb showcased some offensive flair, collecting the puck at the blue line, utilizing his famous curl-and-drag to outwait the sliding Sharks defenseman and then ripping one past Georgiev just 63 seconds into the period.
On the next shift, Jack Eichel created a turnover just inside the Vegas blue line, pushed the puck ahead to himself, turned on the jets to create separation and then jammed the puck past Georgiev’s pad at 1:26.
In the first two periods, the line of Brett Howden, Pavel Dorofeyev and Cole Schwindt was on the ice for two goals against despite getting just 2:37 through 40 minutes.
However, the trio teamed up in the final frame for a full-line goal to give Vegas its first two-goal lead of the night. It was the Golden Knights’ third goal on three shots in the span of 4:43, giving the road team a 5-3 lead less than six minutes into the third.
Howden skated into the zone before sending a saucer feed across to Dorofeyev, who netted his first goal in 12 games with a sleek move to open up the five-hole.
The Golden Knights continued to push throughout the third. The Sharks pulled Georgiev with just under three minutes to go; Howden sealed the win with his 14th goal of the season, hitting the empty net with 32 seconds remaining.
Alex Pietrangelo recorded his third assist of the game on the play; he finished with a plus-three rating and was great in all three zones in the effort.
Pietrangelo was one of six players with a multi-point output, including Eichel, Howden, Stone, Victor Olofsson (who assisted on each of the Golden Knights’ first two goals) and McNabb. Eichel and Stone were both plus-four, and Hill stopped 22 of 25 for his 16th win of the year.
Hertl was held off the scoresheet, but six different players lit the lamp to help him come out on top against his former team.
The Golden Knights’ push early in the third period was the difference in the game.
Though Hill surrendered three, he fell victim to several bad bounces but was able to keep it close after a rough second period.
As a result of the lapse in Vegas’ play in the second, it wasn’t a complete 60-minute effort for the Golden Knights.
That being said, it was an impressive way to start the third period. Instead of potentially giving up a power-play goal to make it a 4-2 game, the Golden Knights scored two shorthanded tallies within 23 seconds to turn the tide.
In a dominant third period, the Golden Knights led 12-3 in scoring chances and 5-0 in high-danger chances at 5-on-5 while finishing the frame with a 78.02 percent expected goal share.
This could have been a trap game for the Golden Knights; it shouldn’t have been that close, but Vegas responded after a rough second period to come away with an important two points.
The win extends Vegas’ winning streak to a season-best five games and lifts Vegas to the top of the league standings with 51 points.
The Golden Knights will look to keep things going Sunday against the Calgary Flames.