There were two big storylines headed into Saturday night’s game between the Sharks and the Golden Knights. San Jose faced Vegas for the first time since last season’s playoffs, and Aaron Dell started the second night of a back-to-back after posting consecutive shutouts.
Neither storyline had a happy ending for the Sharks.
The Golden Knights scored 14 seconds into the contest, on their way to shutting the Sharks out 6-0 in a heated matchup that saw San Jose coach Peter DeBoer get tossed.
Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s game:
Dell on the back-to-back
We’ve talked about the Sharks goalies a lot through the first 22 games of the season. So, naturally, there was a lot of excitement when the Sharks announced Aaron Dell would get the second start on the back-to-back. But it was obvious very early in the game – William Karlsson set a franchise-record for the fastest goal in Golden Knights history, after all – this game was going to be more of a grind.
Not that this was entirely his fault. San Jose’s defensive effort on the evening wasn’t as solid as it was the night before, and Vegas dictated the pace early in the game. On both of Max Pacioretty’s goals, it looked like Dell barely had a chance. That being said, the goal he gave up to William Carrier on the breakaway was difficult to watch.
The Golden Knights are back to their winning ways
After a rough start to their sophomore season, Vegas appears to be back in form. Since defenseman Nate Schmidt returned to the team, the Golden Knights regained the identity of being a team that doesn’t give the opposition much room to create any chances.
The Golden Knights were a bigger, tougher product than the Sharks were Saturday night. And even when San Jose tried to rally in the second and third frames, Marc-Andre Fleury stood tall and made some absolutely ridiculous saves.
The Sharks need to move on from this one as quickly as possible
Not just because they were shut out. Tempers appeared to flair ahead of the second period, as the frustrated Sharks team tried to create some momentum and get onto the scoreboard.
But when Carrier scored that breakaway goal to give the Golden Knights a 5-0 lead, and the Sharks’ frustration got the better of them. The result was Evander Kane being booted from the game for unsportsmanlike conduct and abusive language – and then DeBoer was dismissed from the game as well. Fights ensued throughout the rest of the contest, and Barclay Goodrow was also sent to the showers in the third period.
Coming off a well-crafted win over the Vancouver Canucks to end a successful homestand, this loss in Vegas is a rough way to start a road trip. San Jose has two days to regroup before playing the Buffalo Sabres, who have won nine games in a row.
The Sharks have to put this game in the rear-view mirror, and work on finding consistency and stringing road wins together.
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