The Vegas Golden Knights finished their pre-Christmas schedule with a 7-2 win over the San Jose Sharks. They scored five goals in the first period, and Mitch Marner had two of them, with 13 players contributing points in the victory, according to NHL.
The San Jose Sharks fell behind as Yaroslav Askarov allowed four goals and was replaced by Alex Nedeljkovic, who also gave up more goals. Tyler Toffoli had two assists, and Macklin Celebrini and Collin Graf each scored a goal, but the Sharks’ defense allowed several odd-man rushes and high-danger chances that the Golden Knights converted, as noted by Knights on Ice.
"Honestly, to be up 5-0 after one period is rare," remarked Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy. "You need everything to go right on both sides of the puck," and he added, "We didn’t give up much that first period, if anything," praising the team's strong offensive and defensive play, as per NHL.
Brett Howden scored first with a 2-on-1 play, and Marner added a power-play goal, benefiting from "a little bit of a lucky bounce." Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said, "There’s moments [that are] in the right direction. It feels like we take two steps forward, one step back," as his team struggles to maintain consistency 37 games into the season, as mentioned by NHL.
