Photo courtesy of San Jose Sharks X. The Sharks celebrate their preseason victory over Vegas on September 24, 2023.

By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)

SAN JOSE- The preseason could not have gotten off to a better start for the Sharks as they walloped their Pacific Division rivals Vegas by a final of 5-2

Kaapo Kahkonen got the start with Magnus Chrona backing him up while Vegas had Jiri Patera in between the pipes with Jesper Vikman playing backup.

The first period for the Sharks was filled with power plays and goals as they drew three penalties and scored four goals.

The goal scoring was kicked off by Henry Thrun who’s looking to build off of his eight game stint in the NHL last season. Following that up would be Thomas Hertl who capitalized off of a beautiful tic-tac-toe play involving Mike Hoffman and Thrun. Less than a minute later journeyman Nathan Todd scored off a fortunate bounce out front making it 3-0. All three goals came before the ten minute mark had even passed.

Late in the first Ivan Barbashev got one back off a backhand right in the slot that beat Kahkonen top shelf. Thrun was not done showing off his skills as another seeing eye shot from the youngster found its way in giving him two goals and an assist in the period.

At the end of the first the shots were tied at ten apiece.

The second was a little more back and forth as the teams exchanged chances. Once again the Sharks found the board on a pass by Alexander Barabonv that found a seam through the slot. The recipient of the pass Kyle Burroughs shelved it over Patera making it 5-1.

Toward the end of the second Daniil Chayka flung one on the net that tipped in off Brett Howden cutting the Sharks lead to three.

The shot totals at the end of the second were 21-18 in favor of Vegas.

Starting out the third for Vegas was Jesper Vikman in goal.

As far as final periods go this one ended up being rather uneventful as the San Jose looked a little more sluggish. Starting out the third for Vegas was Jesper Vikman in goal.

Early on the Sharks ended up in penalty trouble as Barabonov took a holding penalty but Vegas could not capitalize.

The Sharks were able to hold on for the win 5-2 with Kahkonen making 32 saves.

The three stars of the game were 1st: Henry Thrun 2nd: Thomas Hertl 3rd: Kyle Burroughs

San Jose’s next preseason game will be against the Ducks on Tuesday at home at 7 p.m.