Sharks Get Blown Out in Vegas as Goltending Gaffs and Offensive Issues Continue
It's nine straight losses to start the season for the San Jose Sharks. That's an NHL record. San Jose went to Vegas and got massacred by the Golden Knights. It's not good enough. Even when the team is enduring a rebuild, the second part of that word is build! There are supposed to be some positives to take away and allow fans to have optimism. Right now, there's nothing. Loss after loss is disastrous for this franchise.
It started when William Karlsson picked the puck up along the boards to the right of the Sharks net. It was his first game of the season, and the Sharks let him ease in as he found Tanner Pearson alone in the slot. Pearson rifled the puck home for the first Golden Knights strike of the night. Through the five-hole of the netminder, you might want a save, but we'll get to wanting a save.
A faceoff win would let the Golden Knights work the puck to the point before a cross-ice pass set up a Jack Eichel one-timer. That beat Vitek Vanecek on the blocker side, and it's 2-0. Mario Ferraro can't get out quick enough to block the shot, and Vanecek has no chance on a one-timer. We'll get to his gaff shortly, but that was a good goal from a good team. It's 2-0.
That wasn't even the end of the first-period scoring for the Knights. This play starts behind their net, and they work the puck through the neutral zone. A slap pass into center ice sees the Knights tap the puck back to the wing. There are two Sharks defensemen back, so this shouldn't be a problem, but Sharks! A cross-ice pass in the Sharks zone by Tomas Hertl (yeah, it had to be) let Brett Howden snap the puck home and make it 3-0.
In the second, the Sharks would get on the board. William Eklund sent the puck down deep to Mikael Granlund. Granlund's wraparound attempt eventually let the Finn corkscrew the puck home. It was his third goal in two games as he continues to carry the offensive burden for this franchise, and it's 3-1. No comeback hopes, but it's a respectable scoreline at least.
On a Sharks powerplay, Alex Pietrangelo dumps the puck down the ice. Normal penalty killing stuff, San Jose won't score on every powerplay. With the puck loose, Vitek Vanecek decided to go down the Vegas strip and head off on his own adventure, letting William Karlsson get to the puck. At this point, Vanecek realises he's working and heads back towards the net, but Karlsson can come into the slow and get the puck around him to make it 4-1.
Vegas struck again late in the second. This one isn't on Vanecek, it's a powerplay marker for the Knights. Vegas goes around the horn from Mark Stone down at the goal line to Shea Theodore at the point. Theodore sets up Pavel Dorofeyev, and the 24-year-old birthday boy got a present against the Sharks. A one-timer ripped into the corner of the net left no chance for the netminder. 5-1 Knights.
San Jose got it back though. Luke Kunin tried to enter the Knights zone, but the puck gets caught up in the skates of the Golden Knights at the blueline. Eventually, Nico Sturm works it loose, and he fired the rolling puck off the iron and in to make it 5-2. The first goal in the last 5 periods not scored by Granlund cut into the Knights lead.
In the third period, the Sharks gave up another goal. Eichel enters the zone and circles the net, before dropping it to Vegas' captain Mark Stone. Stone fired the puck home through a bevy of humanity in front, and there wasn't much Vanecek could do with that one. No one picked up the trailer and Eichel had an easy pass to make.
San Jose would get that back with less than 7 minutes to go. Luke Kunin parked himself in the blue paint and whacked at the loose puck until the red light game on, or he got a slashing minor. Fortunately, it was the former, and the Sharks bottom six continues to chip in with some scoring support.
Vegas kicked the extra point in the final 3 minutes. Brett Howden had an open goal to aim at after a pass from Dorofeyev left him with way too much time and space. Clinical conversion from the Knights, and that would be the end of the Sharks torture. They don't allow an eighth, ninth, or tenth, an improvement on a few games from last year, and it ends 7-3.