Tag: Mark Stone

Golden Knights Rout the Sharks, Win 7-2; Celebrini, Graf Extend Point Streaks, Loss streak hits

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San Jose Sharks defenseman John Klingberg (3) and Vegas Golden Knights Mitch Marner (93) fight for the puck at the T Mobile Center in Las Vegas Tue Dec 23, 2025 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

LAS VEGAS- The San Jose Sharks were defeated 7-2 by the Vegas Golden Knights Tuesday. Bret Howden, Mitch Marner, Colton Sissons, Tomas Hertl, Mark Stone and Reilly Smith scored for the Golden Knights (17-8-10). Carter Hart made 21 saves for the win. Macklin Celebrini and Collin Graf scored for the San Jose Sharks (17-17-3). Yaroslav Askarov started the game for San Jose and made 12 saves on 16 shots. Alex Nedeljkovic made seven saves on ten shots in the 7-2 loss at the T Mobile Center.

The loss was the third in a row for the Sharks, and the lopsided score was more reminiscent of last season than this one. “When you’re chasing a game down five nothing, after the first against a team like that, it’s tough sledding,” said Ryan Reaves after the game. He described the Sharks’ game as “Doing everything the exact opposite of what we talked about before the game.”

Bret Howden started the scoring at 1:49. Skating into the zone, Howden passed the puck to Braeden Bowman, who passed it right back for Howden’s snap shot. An assist also went to Reilly Smith.

Next up was Mitch Marner with a power play goal at 9:07. From the hash marks, Marner sent the puck to the net and it went off of SJ21’s skate. Assists went to Noah Hanifin and Pavel Dorofeyev.

At 11:37, Colton Sissons made it 3-0. Skating into the zone two-on-one with Keegan Kolesar, trading passes, Sissons scored with a wrist shot from close in. An assist also went to Brandon Saad.

Tomas Hertl scored with a snap shot at 14:57 from the edge of the faceoff circle. An assist went to Dorofeyev.

The Sharks pulled Askarov out after that goal and sent in Nedeljkovic. On the first shot Nedeljkovic faced, Mark Stone scored with a backhand. Assists went to Ivan Barbashev and Kaeden Korczak.

At the end of the first period, The Sharks had just five shots on goal to Vegas’s 17. The Sharks toook two penalties and Vegas took one.

Macklin Celebrini trimmed the Vegas lead by one at 6:49 of the second period. Celebrini caught a pass in the slot and took his shot. That pass came from Tyler Toffoli.

Reilly Smith restored the five-goal lead at 18:50 with a slap shot off a pass from Korczak. An assist also went to Bowman.

In the second period, the Sharks had even fewer shots on goal, only four. Vegas had just five. The Sharks took the only penalty in the second.

Mitch Marner scored his second of the game at 5:22 of the third. Marner skated into the zone with Stone and Barbashev three-on-two. Marner, in the middle, caught a pass from Stone and scored with a wrist shot.

Collin Graf scored his tenth of the season at 8:04. Graf scored on a rebound from Toffoli’s shot. An assist also went to Alexander Wennberg.

The shots in the third were 14-4 San Jose.

The Sharks next play on Saturday in Vancouver at 7:00 PM PT against the Canucks.

Sharks Lose 7-3 to Golden Knights, Losing Streak at 9

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Vegas Golden Knights celebrate a first period goal as the San Jose Sharks Mikael Granlund (64) foreground skates off. The Sharks once again surrender three goals in the first period this time at T Mobile Center in Las Vegas at Sat Oct 26, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 7-3 to the Vegas Golden Knights, bringing their season-opening losing streak to nine. Tanner Pearson, Jack Eichel, Brett Howden, Pavel Dorofayev and Mark Stone scored for Vegas. Ilya Samsonov made 23 saves for the win. Mikael Granlund, Nico Sturm and Luke Kunin scored for San Jose. Vitek Vanacek made 35 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro talked about the team’s slow starts:

“We gotta find a way to weather the storm in energetic buildings. LA, it’s their home opener, same thing kinda happened. We’re chasing the game far too much right now. I think there’s a lot more areas that are not good enough but that’s definitely something that’s not helping our case.”

Sharks Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky described the team’s state of mind: “I don’t think anyone’s happy by any means. There’s a lot of emotion in that locker room. Frustration, anger. It’s tough. It’s tough right now.”

Tanner Pearson scored the first goal of the night with the first shot of the game at 1:54. William Karlsson set up the slap shot with a quick backhand pass off the boards. A secondary assist went to Alexander Holtz.

Jack Eichel made it 2-0 less than two minutes later. Mark Stone moved up to the right point before passing the puck to Eichel in the left faceoff circle. Alex Pietrangelo also got an assist.

Brett Howden made it 3-0 late in the period. Tomas Hertl carried the puck in and then made a pass to Howden who was skating to the net. Howden scored with a wrist shot on Vanacek’s stick side. Pavel Dorofeyev got the secondary assist.

The Sharks were outshot 22-4 in the first period.

Mikael Granlund got one back for the Sharks midway through the second period. Granlund tried a wrap-around and when that did not work he got the puck right back and pushed it over the line. William Eklund and Mario Ferraro got the assists.

William Karlsson scored short-handed less than a minute later. Vanacek took a chance and came well out of the net to poke the puck away but Karlsson got it back and evaded the discombobulated Sharks defense. Pietrangelo got an assist.

Pavel Dorofeyev made it 5-1 with a power play goal in the last minute of the second period. Assists went to Shea Theodore and Mark Stone.

Nico Sturm scored the Sharks’ second goal a few seconds later with a wrist shot into the top corner from the faceoff circle.

The Sharks came closer in shots during the second period, mustering 11 to Vegas’ 15.

Mark Stone made it 6-2 at 11:10 of the third period. Eichel carried the puck towards the net and then found Stone with a drop pass. Assists went to Eichel and Barbashev.

Luke Kunin scored the Sharks’ third goal from a scrum in front of the net at 13:29. An assist went to Fabian Zetterlund.

Brett Howden scored his second of the night at 17:07. Assists went to Dorofeyev and Hertl.

The Sharks only allowed five shots in the third period and got credit for 11.

The Sharks next play on Monday at 6:00 PM PT in Salt Lake City against the Utah Hockey Club.

Sharks Beat Golden Knights 6-5, Score 3 in Final Minutes of Preseason

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San Jose Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro (left) got a big hug from right wing Ethan Cardwell (56) after scoring a goal against the Las Vegas Golden Knights at the T-Mobile Center in Las Vegas on Sat Oct 5, 2024 (San Jose Sharks X photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 6-5 in San Jose’s final preseason game of 2024. Jimmy Shuldt, Klim Kostin, Mario Ferraro, Luke Kunin and Ethan Cardwell scored for San Jose. MacKenzie Blackwood made 32 saves for the win.

Daniil Gushchin had five assists in the game. Pavel Dorofeyev, Alexander Holtz, Mark Stone scored for Las Vegas, wth Dorofeyev scoring a hat trick. Adin Hill made 23 saves for Vegas. Tomas Hertl had three assists in the game.

Pavel Dorofeyev scored the first goal of the game with a backhand shot at 4:19. Alex Pietrangelo set him up with a pass from the wing. Alexander Holtz also got an assist.

Jimmy Shuldt tied the game at 8:01 with a shot from the point through traffic. Adin Hill was without a stick and the puck went under him. Assists went to Luca Cagnoni and Collin Graf.

About a minute later, Klim Kostin gave the Sharks a lead with a snap shot off the rush. Assists went to Danil Gushchin and Ty Dellandrea.

Alexander Holtz tied it again with a wrist shot at 14:38. Assists went to Tomas Hertl and Dorofeyev.

At the end of the first period, the teams were tied on the scoreboard and almost tied in shots, 13-12 Vegas. Each team took a penalty and each team killed it off.

Dorofeyev made it 3-2 with the lone second period goal at 5:12. He tipped a shot from Zach Whitecloud at the point. Brayden McNabb also had an assist.

The Golden Knights outshot the Sharks in the second period 9-6, despite taking two penalties while the Sharks took none.

Just 35 seconds into the third period, Mario Ferraro tied the game at 3 with a slap shot in the slot. Assists went to Gushchin and Dellandrea.

Less than three minutes later, Vegas made it 4-3 with a power play goal. Mark Stone tipped a shot from Shea Theodore. Hertl also got an assist.

Dorofeyev completed his hat trick at 8:46 of the third, making it 5-3 Vegas. Hertl and McNabb got the assists.

As hats were picked off the ice, the shot clock read 14-1 Vegas in the period. The Sharks stemmed the bleeding with a power play at 11:51. Though they did not score, they regained their composure and got some shots on net. They allowed no more shots from Vegas in the period and added ten of their own.

With the net empty for an extra skater, Luke Kunin cut the Vegas lead to 5-4 with a tip-in goal at 17:00. Assists went to Gushchin and Alexander Wennberg.

At 18:18, Kunin scored again to tie the game, another tip-in off a shot from Gushchin.

Ethan Cardwell scored the game winner for the Sharks with 12 seconds left in regulation. Assists went to Nico Sturm and Daniil Gushchin.

The Sharks will open their season on Thursday at 7:30 PM PT at home against the St. Louis Blues.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Thornton to have No.19 jersey retired by Sharks; Blackhawks-Sabres move game to Thursday due to heavy snow; plus more NHL news

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Former San Jose Sharks Joe Thornton is jubilant after scoring a goal against the Vegas Golden Knights in game 2 in the first period in the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on Fri Apr 19, 2019 at SAP Center in San Jose. The Sharks announced that Thornton will have his No.19 sweater raised to the rafters at SAP Center sometime next season. (AP file photo)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 San Jose Sharks announced that they will retire the No.19 uniform jersey of former Shark Joe Thornton. The tribute will be held sometime during next season. Thornton will be the second player in Sharks history to have his number retired the first was Patrick Marleau and his number 12. Thornton played in the NHL for 24 seasons. Thornton finished his NHL career with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2021-22.

#2 Len, Buffalo has gone through some rugged weather condition and with blizzard like conditions the Blackhawks-Sabres game had been postponed on Thursday night. The city of Buffalo also has imposed travel restrictions. Heavy snow conditions have made it difficult for fans to get to the Sabres game with two feet of snow.

#3 Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois made it very clear on Tuesday that forward and team captain Steven Stamkos will not be traded. Stamkos has 41 points, 28 goals and 23 assists, in 41 games this season. Stamkos is one of the crucial pieces for the Lightning.

#4 Right winger Kasperi Kapanen of the St Louis Blues will be out at least four weeks with a lower body injury. Kaspanen was injured when he tried to block the shot of the Philadelphia Flyers Nick Seeler at 7:25 in the third period on Monday night. The Blues lost the game to the Flyers 4-2. Kapanen is on the injured reserve list and will be reevaluated in four weeks.

#5 The Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel will be out due to a lower body injury. Eichel missed the last two games due to an injury and is listed day to day. Eichel leads the Knights with 19 goals and is tied with Mark Stone in points with 44 assists in 42 games this year.

Join Len Shapiro for the NHL podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL All-Star Game podcast with Len Shapiro: Splash Shot skills happens at Ft Lauderdale beach; Sabers Thompson out with upper body injury; plus more

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The NHL All Star Game will host the Splash Shot skill competition at Ft Lauderdale Beach on Fri Feb 3, 2023 (photo from NHL.com)

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 The NHL Splash Shot takes place Friday night in the 2023 All Star Skills at Ft. Lauderdale Beach, participants include Sid Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche.

#2 The Atlantic Division added Ramus Dahlin defenceman who will replace Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabers. Thompson is suffering an upper body injury. On Wednesday Thompson sat out at Key Bank Arena in the Buffalo Sabers 5-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Thompson leads Buffalo with 34 goals and 34 assists.

#2 The Vegas Golden Knights Mark Stone is out indefinitely due to having back surgery on Tuesday. Stone while playing against the Florida Panthers injured his back on Jan 12. Stone has 17 goals and 21 assists in 43 games this season.

#3 The Columbus Blue Jackets Gustav Nyquist suffered a shoulder injury on Jan 25 during overtime against the Edmonton Oilers in a 3-2 win over the Oilers. Nyquist left the game in the first period at 2:56.

#4 The St Louis Blues Vladimir Tarasenko said despite the Blues five game losing streak there is “belief in the room.” Tarasenko is still pushing the Blues to move up in the standings while he’s been part of trade rumors to help another club who are in playoff position.

#5 Len, You’ve been in the NHL a long time and Gary Bettman Commissioner of the NHL was addressing diversity in the league and Emmanuel Umoffia center from the University Florida Memorial basketball team is at the NHL All Star week and said he was surprised to see the number of black people and diversity in the league. You’ve been in the NHL since the 1970s how far has the NHL come along becoming a diverse league?

Join Len for the NHL podcasts regularly Fridays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Vegas’ Stone to sit out for tonight’s game; Leafs Matthews possible for tonight’s game; plus more NHL News

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The Vegas Golden Knights Mark Stone is out with a upper body injury and will sit out for tonight’s game against the Edmonton Oilers (photo from NHL.com)

Check out Len on the NHL podcasts weekly:

#1 The Vegas Golden Knights Mark Stone is listed as week to week with an upper body injury. Stone left at 10:42 in the first period against the Florida Panthers on Thursday as the Knights won it 4-2. Stone didn’t practice on Friday and will sit out tonight against the Edmonton Oilers.

#2 Len, the anticipated return of Austin Matthews has finally arrived, Matthews whose been out of the Toronto Maple Leafs line up has missed the last two games. Matthews has been out of the line up since last Sunday and is a maybe for Saturday’s game against the Boston Bruins.

#3 Nick Leddy of the St Louis Blues is set to return on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Leddy a defenseman has 11 assists in 39 games. Leddy has missed the last four games with an upper body injury. Leddy did not play since last Thursday.

#4 Nathan Bastian of the New Jersey Devils could return Saturday night against the Los Angeles Kings. Bastian a forward was injured against the Washington Capitals on Nov 26th. Bastian has eight points, three goals and five assists.

#5 The Edmonton Oilers Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Dallas Stars Jason Robertson, Tage Thompson Buffalo Sabers, and Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals are up for being MVP the season isn’t over yet but these are some top candidates.

Len Shapiro filled in for Matt Harrington for the NHL podcast heard Saturdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks Lose 5-2 in Vegas; losing streak swells to seven games

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The San Jose Sharks Ryan Danato tries to get the puck into the net sliding with Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury behind to defend on Wed Apr 21, 2021 at the T Mobile Center in Las Vegas (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell to the Vegas Golden Knights by a score of 5-2 Wednesday. Jonathan Marchessault (2), Mark Stone, Alex Tuch and Mattias Janmark scored for Las Vegas. Marc-Andre Fleury made 31 saves for the win. Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl scored for San Jose, with Josef Korenar making 35 saves in his second NHL start. The win was the eighth in a row for the Golden Knights, and the seventh loss in a row for San Jose. The Sharks have also lost seven in a row to Las Vegas.

Timo Meier scored the first goal of the game at 2:38. Joel Kellman’s shot went off of Meier skate while Meier was being swept through the blue paint between two Vegas defenders. Kellman got the assist.

Jonathan Marchessault tied the game at 6:51 of the period. He skated through a gap in the defense and was able to take a shot right in front of Korenar. Korenar stopped that one but Marchessault caught the tiny rebound and swept the puck around the goalie’s skate and in. Assists went to William Karlsson and Alec Martinez.

The Golden Knights outshot the Sharks 19-8 in the first period. Each team had one power play, and two minutes of four-on-four time. The two-minute Golden Knights power play had two shots and the ninety-second Sharks power play had one.

The Sharks took the lead again at 11:07 of the second with Tomas Hertl’s 14th goal of the season. He gathered up a rebound and shot it in from just below the face-off dot to Fleury’s right. Assists went to Patrick Marleau and Erik Karlsson.

Mark Stone tied the game back up at 12:52 with a power play goal. Max Pacioretty sent the puck down to Stone on the goal line and Stone swept the puck all the way around in front of Korenar and into the far side of the net. Assists went to Max Pacioretty and Shea Theodore.

Alex Tuch gave Vegas the lead at 19:10. He shot from the same spot on the goal line where Stone scored from, but he took the shot over Korenar. Assists went to Theodore and Marchessault.

The Sharks led in second period shots 12-10. They had one shot on their one power play. The Golden Knights had two power plays and got two shots in those.

Marchessault scored his second of the game 13:18 into the third period. Mattias Janmark was circling high in the face-off circle with his back to the net when he gave the puck to Marchessault, who was skating into the zone. Marchessault took the shot right away and beat Korenar before the goalie could adjust. Janmark got the assist.

Mattias Janmark made it 5-2 with a goal into an empty net at 19:04. Marchessault got the assist.

The Sharks got two shots in their third period power play and led 13-11 in shots during the final frame. The Sharks did show improvement in the face-off circle Wednesday, winning more than 50% in each period and 58% overall. All of the Sharks penalties were taken by defensemen: Brent Burns, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Mario Ferraro and Erik Karlsson.

The Sharks next play on Saturday against the Minnesota Wild in San Jose at 6:00 PM PT.

Marleau Passes Howe in Sharks SO Loss to Golden Knights 3-2

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The San Jose Sharks Patrick Marleau acknowledges the crowd at the T Mobile Center in Las Vegas before the start of the game against the Vegas Golden Knights on Mon Apr 19, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks and the NHL celebrated Patrick Marleau’s 1768th game on Monday in Las Vegas. With that game, Marleau passed Gordie Howe and became the all-time leader for NHL games played. The Sharks wore a patch with a silhouette of Marleau against a background of the number 12. Martin Jones wore a mask specially designed for the occasion. After the first stoppage of play, the game was paused for some words from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to Marleau:

“You don’t get to play in one game, let alone 1,768 just because you’re a good guy or a positive role model and beloved by fans, though you are all of those things. To earn a precious spot in an NHL lineup, night after night, year after year, you have to earn it every single game.”

The Sharks lost to the Golden Knights Monday, by a score of 3-2 in the shootout. Mark Stone scored both regulation goals for Vegas and Alex Tuch scored the shootout winner. Robin Lehner made 29 saves for the win. Nikolai Knyzhov and Noah Gregor scored for San Jose and Martin Jones made 38 saves in the loss. The game extended the Golden Knights’ winning streak to seven and the Sharks’ losing streak to six.

Sharks defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov scored at 9:27 of the first. His shot from the point whistled through traffic and over Lehner’s blocker. It was Knyzhov’s second goal of the season.

The shot count for the first was 11-11. The Sharks took two penalties in the first and their p.k. gave up three shots. Tomas Hertl left the ice hastily during the period but returned to finish the game.

Noah Gregor made it 2-0 29 seconds into the second period. Gregor turned and fired from just above the face-off circle and the puck went through Lehner and over the line. That was Gregor’s fourth goal of the season.

Mark Stone cut the lead in half on a power play at 1:22 of the second. Stone tipped a shot from Shea Theodore, sending it into the top corner. Assists went to Theodore and Max Pacioretty.

Each team had one power play and one shot on the power play in the second period. The shot count was 14-7 for the Golden Knights.

Mark Stone tied the game with another power play goal at 3:25 of the third period. Stone brought the puck up from the goal line and lifted it over Jones’ pad. Assists went to Pacioretty and Theodore.

The shot total for the third period was 11-10 Sharks. The Sharks took two penalties and the Golden Knights one. Each power play had one shot in the period. The Sharks won 46% of their face-offs in the game.

The Sharks got credit for two shots in an almost non-stop overtime period. The Golden Knights had five overtime shots.

Patrick Marleau shot first for San Jose. Lehner made the save. Alex Tuch shot first for Vegas and scored. Ryan Donato shot second for San Jose and he was stopped too. Chandler Stephenson shot second for Vegas and missed. Logan Couture shot third for San Jose and he was stopped too.

The Sharks next play on Wednesday, again in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights at 6:30 PM PT.

Sharks Lose 2-1 to Golden Knights; Dubnyk stands on head despite loss

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The San Jose Sharks goaltender Devon Dubnyk stops a shot by the Vegas Golden Knights Alex Tuch while on his back at the T Mobile Center in Las Vegas on Mon Mar 15, 2021 (AP News photo) 

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks fell to the Vegas Golden Knights by a score of 2-1 Monday. Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone scored for Vegas. Marc-Andre Fleury made 23 saves for the win. Timo Meier scored for the Sharks and Devan Dubnyk made 34 saves in the loss.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner talked about how an otherwise good game from the Sharks was thwarted by Marc-Andre Fleury’s brilliant play:

“I thought there was a lot of good things to our game. Obviously, in the second period we took on a little water. I thought that Duby was good. I thought that we had lots of chances early on in the game. I thought Fleury was a difference-maker. You know, we had a few break-aways, we hit a few posts. Could have been a little bit of a different game, but he kept them going, he gave them some momentum.”

Boughner went on to say: “I’m proud of the guys, I thought we fought hard, I thought we did a lot of good things so we just gotta get back to work here tomorrow and try and find a way to score some more goals against these guys.”

Sharks captain Logan Couture talked about how the team seems to be getting better goaltending lately:

“The last little while, I think that, you know, we started to pick each other up. We started to play better for each other, play to our system, play better defensively. When a team plays better, tighter defensively, the goaltender’s always going to look better and make more saves. So, yeah, I think we’re starting to do that.”

Max Pacioretty scored the only first period goal, on the power play at 8:35. Evander Kane was in the box for tripping Jonathan Marchessault. It took the Golden Knights just 12 seconds to score. They won the face-off and moved the puck aroud the outside once before Pacioretty scored, from just beyond the face-off dot. Assists went to Mak Stone and Shea Theodore.

The first period shot count was 11-8 Sharks. In the face-of circle, Vegas won 58%.

There were no goals and no penalties in the second period. There was, however, a surprising shot discrepancy, with the Sharks getting credit for just 4 and Vegas notching 16 shots. Oddly, the face-offs went the other way, with the Sharks winning 60% of them.

Mark Stone added a goal for Vegas just 1:02 into the third period. Nikolay Knyzhov did a good job stcking with Pacioretty as he carried the puck down the wall, but he couldn’t stop him from making a pass to Mark Stone who was trailing. No one was in Stone’s way to prevent the shot. Assists went to Pacioretty and Nicolas Hague.

The Golden Knights had a power play when Tomas Hertl was called for sendig the puck over the glass. The Sharks penalty kill allowed just one shot.

Around the 12-minute mark, Evander Kane had a breakaway chance but Marc-Andre Fleury came way out of his net for the poke check. Fleury’s gamble paid off and Kane couldn’t get a shot off.

Not long after that, Kane was sent to the penalty box for interference on Marchessault. Vegas had 3 shots on that power play.

Timo Meier got the Sharks on the board at 14:29. Meier held the puck in the slot as if he would shoot on the forehand, luring Fleury out of the net. Once the goalie was out of the blue paint, Meier switched to the backhand and dragged the puck around Fleury’s outstretched leg to tuck it in the net. Brent Burns got the assist.

The Sharks pulled their goaltender with just under two minutes left. The Sharks had a 25 second power play at the end when Max Pacioretty was called for interference on Timo Meier. That was the only penalty called on Vegas. The Sharks had a few fair chances in those 25 seconds but could not tie it up.

Logan Couture commented on the difficulty of using the extra skater in the last minutes of the game:

“Just at the end there, the puck was bouncing too much to create anything on that 6 on 5 and power play. Which is unfortunate ‘cuz I think we would have had some looks. Just couldn’t get anything tape-to-tape and the puck seemed to be spinning, bouncing, so, tough one to swallow right now for sure.”

The shot count for the period was 12-9 Vegas. The Sharks led in face-off wins at 52% for the third period and in the game.

The Sharks will play the Golden Knights again on Wednesday in Las Vegas, at 7:00 PM PT.

Golden Knights Shut-Out Sharks 4-0

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The Vegas Knights Marc Andre-Fleury (left) stops the puck with Nick Holden (22) and the San Jose Sharks Kevin LeBanc (62) behind Fleury in first period at SAP Center on Sat Mar 6, 2021 (AP News photo) 

By Mary Walsh

The San Jose Sharks lost 4-0 to the Vegas Golden Knights Saturday. Goals came from Mark Stone, Alex Tuch (2) and Reilly Smith. Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves for the shut-out win. Devan Dubnyk made 28 saves in the loss for the Sharks.

After the game, Sharks Head Coach Bob Boughner said that the team lost some energy after the first period: “We were a little bit one-and-done. The Sharks are a team that played five games in the last eight days and you could see that as the game wore on.”

Sharks goaltender Devan Dubnyk said: “I thought offensively we generated a lot. Flower [Vegas goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury] played phenomenal and he’s been pretty good all season.”

Vegas scored their first goal fairly late in the first period, at 15:02. Mark Stone scored it, off of a two on one. Assists went to Chandler Stephenson and Max Pacioretty.

Vegas outshot the Sharks 14-8 in the first period and won 64% of the face-offs.

Alex Tuch scored both second period goals. First, Tuch caught a turnover at speed in the neutral zone and raced away for a shot before anyone could get in his way. It was his 11th of the season.

He scored the second at 16:38. Devan Dubnyk had just knocked the puck away but into some traffic. It bounced clear just as Tuch skated to the net and he knocked it in with a backhand.

The Sharks took one penalty in the first period but gave up no shots to the Vegas power play. Vegas won the face-off battle again at 53%, and had 14 shots to the Sharks’ 9.

The final goal of the game came in middle of the third period. Alex Pietrangelo won a board battle below the goal line, allowing Jonathan Marchessault to send the puck to a waiting Reilly Smith up in the slot. The puck went over Dubnyk’s glove and in the net.

The Sharks led in third period shots 7-4 and won 57% of the face-offs. Each team had a power play in the second period. The Sharks had one shot on their power play and Vegas had none.

The Sharks’ forward roster was reduced by one more for Saturday’s game. Timo Meier was out with a lower body injury and is listed as day-to-day. The Golden Knights’ Mark Stone left during the second period with an injury and did not return. Ryan Reaves, who had to be helped off the ice during Friday’s game with a lower body injury, was back in the lineup Saturday.

The Sharks next play on Monday against the St. Louis Blues at 7:30 PM PT in San Jose.