Recap: The Golden Knights and Sharks faced off for their second game in back-to-back nights. Mark Stone got Vegas started late in the 1st period scoring his sixth goal of the season. The captain and linemate Chandler Stephenson played catch with the puck in the offensive zone and Stone snapped it in. Marc-Andre Fleury looked sharp stopping all eight shots on net.
Alex Tuch continued to shine, scoring two in the second period. The winger scored his 11th and 12th goals of the season to stretch Vegas’ lead 3-0.
Reilly Smith added a goal in the third period padding the Golden Knights lead. Smith’s fifth of the year gave Vegas a commanding 4-0 lead. Fleury was flawless once again and picked up his fourth shutout of the season.
With their 4-0 win in San Jose, Vegas’ record improves to 16-4-1. The Golden Knights continue their road trip on Monday night in Minnesota. The matchup against the Wild is scheduled for 5 PM PT (Recap by Jason)
Analysis: The Golden Knights simply asserted their dominance over the Sharks for the entire night. Vegas is a lot better than the Sharks and it really showed up as they controlled the puck for most of the night. Fleury came up with a few dandies but even despite the shutout he wasn’t the story of the night. (Analysis by Ken)
Upcoming stories from the Vegas Golden Knights vs San Jose Sharks at SAP Center
- Steve Carp’s Sunday column on Ivan Morozov
Ken’s Three VGK Stars
*** Marc-Andre Fleury
** Chandler Stephenson
* Alex Tuch
Let's talk about beating the Sharks… Again. It's almost becoming boring, right? https://t.co/gAeKxEAl3I
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) March 7, 2021
Marc-Andre Fleury now leads the NHL in shutouts with 4 in 15 starts.
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) March 7, 2021
Leave it to Tuch to be the one who finds one.
He can do no wrong. https://t.co/994txLClwZ
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) March 7, 2021
This dude is unconscious.
Tuch's ability to pick the puck out of traffic at full speed is unreal.
2-0 VGK
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) March 7, 2021
Chandler Stephenson's decision-making these last few games has been dynamite. Great quick pass back to Stone and VGK have the lead.
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) March 7, 2021
Frank
Much better than last game. All around, but particularly in net. Flurry is playing like a man possessed. Tuch isn’t far behind right now. Great team win. Go knights go!
R. J. Smith
Flower has been The Man for the Knights this year! Tuch is a close 2nd. The whole team is playing possessed.
Onward Knights!
Daryl
As I said before, VGK would have a winning record with their AHL goalie thus far in the season. SJS are just a horrible team. NO they are not a rivalry anymore. Watching games like this would actually be somewhat boring if it wasn’t hockey, if that makes sense.
DOC (Go Knights Go)
Knights lead the league in win%. This is professional hockey. All wins are earned and important!
Sharks go down with a whimper.
We have a very good team. It’s to bad some “fans” can’t just except and admit that!
Hope Stoney is ok.
Daryl
Yes VGK has a very good team, but they are a good team for the Division they play in which is the WORST Division in the NHL. What worries me is how they are winning some of these games. They are 4-1 against ARI and ANA and 2-0 against the SJS. BUT, against ARI they only got a 1-0 win but were also destroyed 5-2. Against ANA, they had to win two games in OT, then won a game 5-4 while losing 0-1. They also needed OT to beat SJS. That isn’t impressive considering how bad those teams really are.
What worries me is how VGK will look against good teams from other conferences. Can VGK hang with top teams from the Central (TB, FL, CAR) or the loaded East (NYI, Caps, Bruins, Flyers, Pens) or the Canadians in the North (Leafs, Jets, Oilers, Mont)???
Beating teams that suck doesn’t make VGK is a good team. It also doesn’t make them a less than deserving team. I want VGK to win the Cup but barely beating teams at the bottom of their own Division doesn’t instill confidence.
Hdbiker7851
DARYL l think what bothers me more than anything else is their struggle often getting out of their zone against these weaker teams you referenced and their PP which for whatever reason they can’t master. No shots, one shot etc is sacrificing Golden opportunities missed that can may all the difference. I noticed nothing said about Stone did l miss that? Hope your doing ok.
Daryl
I completely agree with you…. I think, as you and I have said multiple times before, is we do not have a Center who can lead the PP. We can’t get that Center because we wasted so much money on Lehner and in some part on Petra, who cost us 3 (actually 4) players. I think that Center position is the difference between VGK winning the Cup and not.
hdbiker7851
The way things are going the situation could prove you right. They have some dead wood they could burn to free up some cash but the question is who might be the buyer. The splash brothers wasted alot of cap space which could have been better utilized in a more efficient manner – its all to do with ROI. I hope you are wrong but have my doubts.
sb
That’s the problem …….. VGK don’t have that Number 1 center for Stone and Pac. That hole is clearly evident on the PP …… they struggle to CARRY the puck in and struggle to hang on to the puck. With the exception of Karlsson, they’re all scoring wingers, north/south players and that’s great, BUT they don’t have that crafty center to stickhandle the puck in. They’re all shooters – exception is Stone who is slightly good at handling the puck. On the PP, the center needs to be behind the net holding on to the puck and drawing the left and right D-men to behind the net leaving the wingers open at the top of the circles for one-timers. Gretzky, Oates, LeMaire, Datsyuk, all great set-up centers who could handle the puck and quarterback the PP. D-men are not quarterbacks on the PP. Centers are the quarterbacks parked behind the net. Look at Tampa. They get it there when it comes to centers. That team is well balanced w/center and wingers. VGK are not balanced.
Tim
After our seventh game loss to the Sharks in the playoffs and the way it happened I’ll always savor in victory now or 5 years from now. Great team win Flower being Flower and every nights different guys contribute to the scoring a very well rounded team. We’ve got 4 big games this week so hopefully we can win 3 out of 4. Go Knights