Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone each contributed a goal and an assist as the Vegas Golden Knights secured a 2-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Monday night.
Marc-Andre Fleury, starting for the 16th time in 17 games, made 23 saves, improving his season record to 14-5-0. The victory brought Fleury to 481 career wins, just three shy of tying Ed Belfour for fourth on the all-time list.
Pacioretty opened the scoring in the first period and then set up Stone with a perfect backhand pass early in the third. Stone’s one-timer at 1:02 made it 2-0 and stood as his sixth game-winning goal of the season.
“Stone and Patch have great chemistry and complement each other well,” said Vegas coach Peter DeBoer. “Their big goal in the third period and our power play in the first really helped us.”
Timo Meier scored late for the Sharks, while Devan Dubnyk made 34 saves in a losing effort.
Vegas improved to 12-1-3 in regular-season matchups with San Jose.
Fleury was stellar, making key saves throughout the game. He denied Meier on a breakaway in the first period, stopped Evander Kane on two separate breakaway attempts, and thwarted Matt Nieto’s one-timer early in the third.
Fleury leads NHL goaltenders with a 1.77 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage for players with at least 20 games.
“We had several good chances early but missed the net or got stopped by Fleury,” said Sharks coach Bob Boughner. “Against a goalie like that, you need to generate more shots and second-chance opportunities.”
Returning home after a six-game road trip, the Golden Knights started sluggishly, struggling to enter the Sharks’ zone with possession. San Jose controlled the first period, winning races to the puck and quickly starting breakouts.
“We were flat in the first 10 minutes after a long road trip,” admitted Stone.
Vegas got on the board when Kane took a tripping penalty, giving the Knights a power play. Eight seconds later, Pacioretty fired a wrist shot past Dubnyk from the top of the right circle.
“Flower (Fleury) was our best player in the first period,” DeBoer said. “He kept us in the game when we could have easily been down.”
In the second period, Vegas looked reinvigorated, creating scoring chances and firing 16 shots at Dubnyk.
Meier pulled San Jose within one with just over five minutes left in the game, scoring his sixth goal of the season, but the Sharks couldn’t find the equalizer.
“You’re going to have tough nights where you need to grind out a win, and that’s what we did,” DeBoer concluded.
FLEURY DOMINATES IN MARCH
Fleury picked up his 20th win in March in 30 starts with the Golden Knights.
LIMITED CAPACITY CROWD
With Nevada easing COVID-19 restrictions, the Golden Knights welcomed a “sold-out” crowd of 3,473 fans, representing 20% of the usual capacity of 17,367 at T-Mobile Arena.
MARLEAU NEARS GAMES PLAYED RECORD
San Jose’s Patrick Marleau played in his 880th consecutive game, a streak dating back to April 9, 2009. Marleau, who has played 1,749 games, is on track to surpass Gordie Howe’s all-time record of 1,767 games in Las Vegas on April 19. Mark Messier sits second with 1,756 games.
UP NEXT
- The Golden Knights and Sharks face off again on Wednesday night.