During a four-goal third-period surge, Ryan Reaves broke a tie as the Vegas Golden Knights rallied to defeat the San Jose Sharks 5-4 on Wednesday night.
Reaves, who had an earlier goal overturned due to goalie interference by William Carrier, tipped Tomas Nosek’s shot past Devan Dubnyk to give Vegas the lead. This marked Reaves’ first goal since March 3, 2020.
“Anytime you do anything against the Sharks, it’s fun,” Reaves said. “It’s no secret I hate everyone over there.”
Cody Glass, Nicolas Hague, and Alec Martinez also scored in the third period as Vegas overturned a 3-1 deficit. The Golden Knights improved to 13-1-3 in regular-season matchups with San Jose, including a perfect 5-0-0 this season.
Shea Theodore also scored for Vegas, while Marc-Andre Fleury made 29 saves in his 17th start over 18 games. Fleury earned his 482nd career win, just two short of Ed Belfour, who ranks fourth on the NHL’s all-time wins list.
Matt Nieto, Mario Ferraro, Kevin Labanc, and Evander Kane scored for the Sharks, and Dubnyk made 32 saves.
The game was atypical of this rivalry, known for physical confrontations between Reaves and Kane. Instead, Vegas captain Mark Stone and assistant captain Jonathan Marchessault dropped the gloves with San Jose’s Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture.
“I don’t know if it’s April Fools or St. Patrick’s Day when you see Reaves scoring and guys like Stone and Marchessault fighting,” said Vegas coach Peter DeBoer. “It wasn’t a typical game, but we got involved after 40 minutes, and the comeback showed our fight.”
Theodore extended his point streak to five games with a first-period blast from the point, but San Jose took control in the second period. Nieto tied it with a backhand in his 499th career game, and Ferraro added a wraparound goal to give San Jose its first lead over Vegas this season. Labanc extended the lead, catching Fleury out of position for his sixth goal in 10 games.
Vegas began its comeback on its fourth power play. Glass scored his fourth goal of the season off a rebound following a Theodore shot. Hague tied the game shortly after with a slap shot, and Reaves gave the Golden Knights the lead before Martinez made it 5-3 with another power-play goal.
Kane, who had two assists, cut the lead to 5-4 with his 12th-season goal on a power play.
“I take some great things out of both games,” said Sharks coach Bob Boughner. “We’re trending in the right direction, but this loss really stings.”
ROBIN RETURNS
Vegas goalie Robin Lehner returned to the lineup as a backup for the first time since Feb. 7. Lehner, who had been out with an upper-body injury, revealed the injury was his third career concussion.
MIXED LINEUP
Vegas coach Peter DeBoer shuffled his lineup, scratching regulars Chandler Stephenson, Alex Tuch, and Nic Holden. After being scratched Monday, William Carrier returned to the lineup, and Tomas Jurco made his team debut.
MARLEAU’S MILESTONE RUN
San Jose’s Patrick Marleau continued his pursuit of several career milestones. The 41-year-old has played 1,750 NHL games, which is the third-highest in history, and is only 17 games away from breaking Gordie Howe’s all-time record of 1,767 games.
UP NEXT
- San Jose: Opens a two-game series at home on Friday against St. Louis.
- Vegas: Opens a two-game series in Los Angeles on Friday against the Kings.