Vegas Golden Knights Sink Sharks on Four-Goal Third; Win 5-3

Ryan Reaves scored his first goal of the year and the Vegas Golden Knights tallied four times in the third period, needing every one of them in a 5-4 win over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night.

The VGK entered the third period trailing 3-1 before ripping off four straight goals from Cody Glass (PP), Nicolas Hague, Ryan Reaves and Alec Martinez (PP).

Despite a late power play goal from Evander Kane, the Golden Knights were able to fend off the Sharks at the end with the goalie pulled for the extra attacker.

Shea Theodore opened the scoring at 3:45 of the first period, but the Sharks would register the next three goals. Matt Nieto, Mark Ferraro and Kevin Labanc helped San Jose build the lead through the end of the second period.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves in the winning effort while Devan Dubnyk took the loss for the Sharks with 32 stops.

Tom’s Takeaways:

• It wasn’t a 60-minute effort for the Vegas Golden Knights, but the third period was definitely the best hockey they played all night. In fact, the VGK struggled in the first two periods to generate on a consistent basis and made mistakes that led to Sharks goals. That said, this is a veteran team that simply doesn’t panic. Already this season we’ve seen them come from behind without a hint of worry. Tonight was another example.
• Marc-Andre Fleury got the start tonight, and Robin Lehner backed him up. It was Lehner’s first game since February 7th after coming off LTIR because of an upper body injury. Expect Lehner to get one of the next two starts.
• It’s nice to see the defense scoring again, contributing three goals on the night. Vegas has a lot of talent and firepower on the blue line, and seeing those D involved on the offensive side of the coin again reminds you of that.
• The VGK converted twice on the power play in the third period, going 2-for-5 in the game.
• Ryan Reaves scored his first goal of the season while Jonathan Marchessault and Mark Stone sat fighting majors in the penalty box. Role reversal? After the game Alec Martinez quipped that ordinarily he’d say that’s a crazy situation but given the way things have gone for everyone in the last calendar year, that happening is “right on par” with the world we live in.
• Up next is a pair of games against the LA Kings for the Golden Knights Friday and Sunday.