Max Pacioretty Leads Golden Knights Past Sharks in OT 5-4

Max Pacioretty scored his second goal of the game in overtime to send the Vegas Golden Knights to a 5-4 win against the San Jose Sharks Friday night.

Vegas built a 3-0 lead on goals by Pacioretty, Reilly Smith and Chandler Stephenson.

But the Sharks would claw back into the game, eventually knotting the contest at four with just 1:07 to go when Oscar Dansk (25 saves) fanned on a clearing attempt that was tipped home by Kevin Labanc.

But just 1:25 into overtime, Pacioretty scored the game winner off a setup from Alex Pietrangelo, beating relief goaltender Devan Dubnyk (17 saves, L) under the left pad. The play was set up by Mark Stone absorbing a hit just inside the Sharks line to keep the play alive and create room for the Pietrangelo to Pacioretty connection.

Dansk picked up his first win of the season for the Vegas Golden Knights as Marc-Andre Fleury received a rare night off.

Tom’s Takeaways:

• Dansk didn’t look great but he got the job done. Fanning on the puck late to give up the tying goal certainly didn’t help my opinion, but there were a few goals I think he’d want back. That said, for a guy who hasn’t seen a game in the NHL in almost two years he deserves some slack. Fortunately for the VGK, they’re a strong enough team to overcome a shaky start and beat a team they definitely should
• Vegas’ streak of successive penalty kills ended at 20 straight when Brent Burns converted on the power play in the second period.
• Ryan Reaves left the game after a third period collision, leaving the ice favoring his right leg. Reaves had a big fight to start the third period, and while he sat his major penalty Alex Tuch scored playing in his spot on that line to make it 4-2 at the time.
• Speaking of Tuch, he now has six goals in his last six games and is one of the hottest Vegas Golden Knights players.
• Max Pacioretty scored twice in the game and now has a three-game point streak (4-3-7).