Roughly 24 hours after the Vegas Golden Knights swept their Pacific Division rival Los Angeles Kings in the first round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the San Jose Sharks, another division rival of the Knights, orchestrated a sweep of their own.
The Sharks defeated the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 Wednesday night, winning their best-of-seven series 4-0 and earning a date with the Golden Knights in Round 2.
Vegas took on the Sharks four times during the regular season, winning the season series with a 3-0-1 record. In their most recent meeting, the Golden Knights defeated San Jose 3-2 to clinch the Pacific Division title.
Oh, and William Karlsson did this.
The Golden Knights have home-ice advantage secured for this series, so Games 1 and 2 will be played in T-Mobile Arena before the series moves on to San Jose for Games 3 and 4. If necessary, Games 5 and 7 will also be played in Las Vegas.
Vegas has already intensified its rivalry with one division opponent this postseason. Now it’s time to add another to the list.