The Vegas Golden Knights rode an extraordinary performance from Brett Howden and Mark Stone to an emphatic 7-3 win against San Jose Sharks on a memorable Saturday evening. Howden contributed two goals while Stone contributed one goal and two assists; William Karlsson returned from injury as well, scoring one goal and providing one assist en route to their team victory.
Tanner Pearson, Jack Eichel and Pavel Dorofeyev all played key roles in expanding the Golden Knights’ lead, while Ilya Samsonov made 24 saves to defend their net. Meanwhile for the Sharks camp Mikael Granlund, Nico Sturm and Luke Kunin managed to score goals despite Vitek Vanecek stopping 35 shots during playback.
Record Woes for San Jose Sharks
The Sharks faced a disheartening milestone, becoming the first NHL team to start consecutive seasons without a win in their first nine games. This statistic places them amongst a small group of 10 teams in league history to have gone winless through ten games, a record they last achieved with their delayed first win coming in the 12th game of the previous season.
Former Shark Tomas Hertl Shines for Golden Knights
Tomas Hertl, facing his former team for the first time since being traded last March, made his presence felt with two assists. This effort brought his point streak to three games, where he has accumulated three goals and four assists.
Game-Changing Moments
The Knights solidified their lead when Karlsson capitalized on a mishap by Vanecek, who misjudged the play of the puck, allowing Karlsson to score easily and push the lead back to three goals midway through the second period.
Milestone Achievements
Brett Howden became just the 13th Golden Knight this season to record a multi-point game, marking his achievement with his second goal. Erik Karlsson later joined this select list as well, becoming the 12th member.
Looking ahead, the Golden Knights hope to continue their winning ways when hosting Calgary on Monday; conversely, San Jose Sharks hope their fortunes can change against Utah in their game on April 18th.