The Vegas Golden Knights Phil Kessel scored in the first period in his 990th consecutive game against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose on Tue Oct 25, 2022 (AP News photo)

By Daniel Dullum

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Vegas’ Phil Kessel scored his first goal of the season while establishing an NHL record for durability on Tuesday, as the Golden Knights defeated San Jose 4-2 at SAP Center.

The NHL Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights improved to 6-2, while San Jose is in sixth place in the Pacific with a 2-7 mark.

Kessel – who broke in with the Boston Bruins in 2006 and also played for Toronto, Pittsburgh and Arizona – has played in 990 straight games, breaking the old record held by Keith Yandle. He hasn’t missed a game since 2009, playing 12 consecutive seasons without missing a contest.

Kessel’s goal, the 400th of his career, came at 15:51 of the first period, assisted by Brett Howden.

San Jose came back with a pair of goals to take a 2-1 lead in the second period. Nico Sturm’s fourth goal of the season at 5:53 was the equalizer, and Matt Nieto scored his first goal of the season at 19:25, assisted by Tomas Hertl.

55 seconds into the third period, Vegas tied the game at 2-2 on a goal by Shea Theodore. William Karlsson’s third goal of the year put the Golden Knights ahead 3-2 at 13:13. Mark Stone tacked on the fourth Vegas goal at 14:15.

Only three penalties were called in the game – one against Sturm for interference at 15:14 of the second period, and two against Vegas in the third period.

James Reimer stopped 27 of 31 shots for San Jose, while the Golden Knights’ netminder Adin Hill faced 31 shots, stopping 29.

The Sharks host Toronto on Thursday, with a 7:30 p.m. opening faceoff.