Vegas Golden Knights Beat Sharks in a Shootout For Seventh Straight Win

Mark Stone scored both goals on the power play in regulation and Patrick Marleau set a new record for most games played in NHL history as the Vegas Golden Knights beat the San Jose Sharks in a shootout 3-2 Monday night.

Marleau made hockey history by skating in his 1,786th NHL game, breaking the record held by the late Hall of Famer Gordie Howe.

The Sharks did their best to get Marleau a win on his record-breaking night, jumping out to a 2-0 lead on goals by Nikolai Knyzhov and Gregor Noah. But the Golden Knights came back with a pair of power play goals from Stone to force overtime.

The game ended up in a shootout where Alex Tuch scored the only goal to give the VGK its seventh straight victory.

Golden Grades

Goaltending – B-

Robin Lehner wasn’t his sharpest in this one and probably wants the second goal back. But he did enough to let Vegas get back into it and shut the door in the shootout where he was excellent.

Defense – B-

Not the best game the VGK defense has played, but it was good enough. Nothing incredibly remarkable to pick on here, but allowing 31 shots to the Sharks isn’t good. I’d like to see them button up more of those quality scoring chances.

Forwards – B

Despite the injuries up and down the lineup, the Golden Knights looked good and were generating plenty of chances tonight. A total of 40 shots included five in overtime and only Martin Jones kept the VGK from the OT win.

Special Teams – A

Nice to give high marks to the power play tonight, with Stone scoring both of his goals on the man advantage. The penalty kill wasn’t too busy on the night as the Golden Knights only gave up two power plays. They killed both.

The Takeaways

• The amount of respect shown to Marleau was tremendous from both teams and the VGK fans. Several Sharks fans were in attendance at T-Mobile Arena for the evening as well. The game was stopped early after Marleau’s first shift for a video message from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, and then after the game once again the fans and both teams saluted the new all-time games played king.
• With the win, the Vegas Golden Knights are now in sole possession of first overall in the NHL.
• Vegas will play the Sharks again on Wednesday night and then play the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday. For now it appears that next week’s games against the Colorado Avalanche will be played as scheduled, but time will tell.
• Shea Theodore now has six assists in his last five games.
• Max Pacioretty had a pair of assists to extend his scoring streak to five games (3-6-9)