Wednesday night’s game felt like those old games. In an emotional game that saw a multi-goal deficit erased, fights, and momentum changes galore, the Golden Knights managed to come out on top 5-4.
“It definitely wasn’t a typical game” Golden Knights head coach Pete DeBoer said. “They’re obviously a desperate team. They don’t want to go 0-5 against us.”
Shea Theodore got the Knights on the board early in the first period. He took a pass from Max Pacioretty and rifled it past the blocker of Devan Dubnyk. The Golden Knights got a power play opportunity shortly after but did not score on it. The teams traded chances for the remainder of the period but went into the first intermission with the Golden Knights leading 1-0.
Second periods have been kryptonite for the Golden Knights this season, and tonight’s game was no exception. The Sharks poured on three goals in the second period to take a 3-1 lead. Ryan Reaves had a chance to stop the bleeding after the second goal, but incidental contact to Dubnyk by William Carrier erased Reaves’ tying bid.
While the Golden Knights struggle have a tendency to struggle in second periods, third periods have been where they do their most damage. After a few lackadaisical minutes, the Sharks took a costly too-many men on the ice penalty. It took the Golden Knights just five seconds to score on that power play, after Cody Glass put a rebound past the outstretched leg of Dubnyk. The physicality in this game was there from the start, but it boiled over when Mark Stone and Tomas Hertl dropped the gloves in front of the Sharks goaltender. This seemed to spark the Golden Knights, as Nic Hague scored his third of the season shortly after to tie the game at three. After the tying bid, Jonathan Marchessault and Logan Couture dropped the gloves as well. Again, this seemed to spark the Golden Knights far more than it did the Sharks. 89 seconds after the second fight, Ryan Reaves made up for his disallowed goal. He scored his first goal of the season, and first in 29 games, by deflecting Tomas Nosek’s shot past Dubnyk to give the Golden Knights the 4-3 lead.
“Anytime we get to do anything against the Sharks it’s fun” Reaves said. “It’s no secret I hate every one of them over there. Anytime I can do anything like [score a goal against them], it’s a good time.”
Alec Martinez netted some insurance for the Knights on the power play to make it 5-3. The Sharks did get one back on a power play of their own, coming off the stick of Evander Kane. The Sharks had an excellent chance to tie the game late with their goalie pulled, but Martinez blocked the tying bid. The 5-4 score held up and the Golden Knights remained perfect against the Sharks on the season.
Despite a disastrous second period, the Golden Knights moved to 2-0-1 when trailing by two goals at T-Mobile Arena on the season. They currently lead the NHL in goals in the third period with 37 and are second in the league with two multi-goal comeback wins on the season (three comebacks overall). Shea Theodore extended his point streak to five games with a three-point outing. William Karlsson, with a secondary assist on the Hague goal, picked up his 199th career point with the team as well.
The win against San Jose Wednesday night also gave the Golden Knights their 20th win on the season (20-6-1). They joined the Carolina Hurricanes and Tampa Bay Lightning as the only teams to reach that milestone on the season. They head back out on the road for a quick two-game set against the Los Angeles Kings, before coming back to T-Mobile for a make-up game against the St. Louis Blues on March 22.
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