Seven different goal scorers and yet another Marc-Andre Fleury shutout powered the Vegas Golden Knights to a 7-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks on home ice Thursday night in Game 1 of their 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round matchup.
The T-Mobile Arena crowd was delighted to Fleury’s third shutout of the 2018 postseason as the Vegas goaltender turned aside all 33 shots faced for the win. San Jose’s Martin Jones made eight saves on 13 shots against for a .615 save percentage in 23:26 time on ice before being replaced by backup, Aaron Dell, in the loss.
Dell made 19 saves on 21 shots against for a .905 SV% in 36:18 TOI.
San Jose gave up four goals to the Anaheim Ducks over the course of their entire First Round series (four games). The Golden Knights scored four goals on the Sharks in the first 12 minutes of Game 1 in the Second Round.
Jonathan Marchessault took a high-stick from Tomas Hertl and Vegas went on the power play 63 seconds into the game. While the Golden Knights didn’t convert on the man advantage, they took complete control of the game’s momentum fast and early.
Brayden McNabb was responsible for the series clinching goal in Los Angeles against the Kings and the Vegas defender was responsible for firing the first shot on goal that would eventually end up in the twine in the Second Round.
Cody Eakin (2) tipped in McNabb’s shot from the point to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 4:31 of the 1st period. McNabb (1) and David Perron (2) notched the assists on the goal.
The fans at T-Mobile Arena didn’t get to sit back down for long after Eakin’s goal as the Golden Knights struck again 26 seconds later on a goal from Erik Haula (2).
Alex Tuch rushed in the offensive zone and dropped a pass back to Haula who got a quick release past Jones on the far side to make it 2-0 Golden Knights at 4:57. Tuch (2) and James Neal (2) were credited with the assists on Haula’s goal.
Having created their own 3-on-2 in the offensive zone thanks to good, quick, short passes, Marchessault (1) fired one past Jones to give Vegas a three-goal lead, 3-0, at 6:02 of the first period. That’s three goals in a span of 1:31, mind you. Reilly Smith (4) picked up the only assist on Marchessault’s first goal of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Sharks earned their first power play of the night after Tuch got a stick up high on San Jose blueliner, Justin Braun. They did not convert on the man advantage.
Kevin Labanc was sent to the sin bin at 9:26 of the first period for hooking Tuch. Brent Burns shortly followed Labanc’s ruts to the penalty box with a minor penalty of his own for delay of game after he sent the puck clear over the glass at 10:14.
San Jose killed off Labanc’s penalty, but was quickly thwarted of attempting to kill off the remainder of Burns’s minor as Tuch (2) broke free of the Sharks defense and shot one past Jones’s blocker to give the Golden Knights the 4-0 lead on the power play.
William Karlsson (2) and Smith (5) had the primary and secondary assists on Tuch’s power play goal at 11:43.
Smith received a minor penalty for goaltender interference at 12:09 of the first period and the Sharks went on their first 5-on-3 man advantage at 13:29 when former Shark turned Golden Knight via waivers this season, Ryan Carpenter, tripped up Burns.
San Jose did not score on the ensuing power play.
Through one period, the Golden Knights led, 4-0. Meanwhile, San Jose led in shots on goal, 17-9. Vegas led in blocked shots (15-2), hits (22-13) and giveaways (5-2). The Sharks were 0/3 and the Golden Knights were 1/3 on the power play after 20 minutes of play.
Shea Theodore (2) opened scoring in the second period after receiving a cross ice pass from Smith and redirecting the puck past Jones. Smith (6) and Marchessault (3) had the assists at 3:28 of the second period.
As a result of Vegas’s newfound, 5-0, lead, Peter DeBoer replaced his goaltender, Martin Jones, with San Jose’s backup goalie, Aaron Dell. The relief appearance was Dell’s Stanley Cup Playoffs career debut.
Jon Merrill caught Logan Couture with a high-stick and the Golden Knights were shorthanded at 6:10. The Sharks did not score on the ensuing power play.
Eric Fehr caught Theodore with a high-stick of his own about a couple of minutes later and Vegas was not able to convert on the ensuing man advantage.
Late in the second period, Timo Meier (tripping) and Chris Tierney (holding) were penalized about four minutes apart. The Golden Knights did not score on either power play, despite James Neal having thought he scored— the goal was immediately waved off and reviewed, as it appeared Neal had punched the puck into the net with his hand.
As such, the call on the ice was not reversed.
Vegas went into the second intermission with the lead on the scoreboard, 5-0, and trailing in shots on goal, 25-24. The Golden Knights led in blocked shots (18-11), hits (36-23) and takeaways (8-4) after 40 minutes of play. San Jose was 0/4 on the power play and Vegas was 1/6.
Sharks captain, Joe Pavelski, was guilty of interfering with McNabb 68 seconds into the third period and the Golden Knights found themselves going on the power play for the seventh time on the night.
Just as quick as Pavelski was released from the box, the San Jose forward found himself going back to the box as he let the best of him go undisciplined— slashing Vegas defender, Nate Schmidt at 3:25 of the third period.
Evander Kane tangled with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare after the whistle and delivered a swift cross check to the Vegas forward’s face resulting in a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct for Kane that will undoubtedly result in at least a hearing with the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety (given the precedent set by Winnipeg’s Josh Morrissey cross checking Minnesota’s Eric Staal in the head in the First Round).
It didn’t take long for Vegas to capitalize on the ensuing 5-on-3 advantage as Colin Miller (1) shot a one-timer past Dell to give the Golden Knights a 6-0 lead.
Karlsson (4) and Marchessault (4) had the assists on the goal at 4:32 of the third period and the Golden Knights’s power play continued.
At the goal line from just to the side of the net, Neal (2) swung around in front of the goal and beat Dell from point blank to give Vegas yet another power play goal and increase the lead, 7-0.
Perron (3) and Haula (1) notched the assists on the point-after-touchdown goal at 8:09 of the third period.
The Golden Knights had matched their entire offensive output against the Los Angeles Kings in the First Round in less than 60 minutes against San Jose.
At the final horn, Vegas won, 7-0, and grabbed the 1-0 series lead in what was Fleury’s 13th career postseason shutout.
The Golden Knights led the final shots on goal total, 34-33, as well as blocked shots (26-13), hits (48-33), giveaways (10-8) and faceoff win percentage (52-48). San Jose went 0/5 on the power play and Vegas went 3/10 on the night.
Game 2 is Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena, where the home team, Golden Knights, look to go up, 2-0, in the series. Puck drop is scheduled for a little after 8 p.m. ET and viewers in the United States can catch the action on NBC. Fans in Canada can follow along on CBC, SN or TVAS.
