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SAN JOSE — Captain Joe Pavelski scored on the power play to give the Sharks a one-goal lead at the 7:45 mark of the third period Thursday against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Anyone who has watched the upstart expansion franchise this season, though, knew that a San Jose win wasn’t going to come that easily.
Vegas charged back and got third period goals by Brayden McNabb and James Neal to help pick up a 5-3 win over the Sharks in an emotionally charged atmosphere at SAP Center.
McNabb’s goal came at the 9:36 mark of the third and Neal picked up the game-winner with 4:50 to go as the Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights increased their lead over the second place Sharks to 12 points.
“When you get the lead there with 10 minutes left, you want to put it away,” Sharks center Logan Couture said. “But too many breakdowns defensively.”
On McNabb’s goal, he faked a shot from outside the circle, froze Sharks defenseman Brent Burns and beat goalie Martin Jones with a sharp angle shot above Jones’ right shoulder.
On Neal’s goal, he worked a give-and-go with David Perron after they came across the Sharks’ blue line that seemed confuse Justin Braun and Burns. Neal found himself open, took the pass back from Perron and beat Jones with a wrist shot through the legs.
Asked about Neal’s goal, Burns said, “I think I just kind of fell. You just try to make a play.”
Pavelski scored twice, Timo Meier also scored on the power play and Burns had three assists in a game that saw forward Joel Ward leave the game with an injury.
With just over 12 minutes to go in the second, Ward was chasing after a loose puck in the Knights’ zone when he was hit hard into the boards defenseman Nate Schmidt. Ward stayed on the ice for several moments and was led off by Sharks trainer Ray Tufts. He did not return for the start of the third period. There was no penalty on the play.
Asked about hits on Ward, and later another one on Couture early in the third period by Reilly Smith, Sharks coach Pete DeBoer said, “I’m speechless on some of the stuff that went on in that end tonight.”
The Sharks did just about everything they wanted to do in the first period, including outshooting Vegas 16-4, but were unable to take a lead into the intermission.
Pavelski opened the scoring for the Sharks as he tipped a shot from Burns past Fleury 4:40 into the first period as San Jose recorded the first 12 shots on goal.
The Golden Knights got their first shot with 6:01 to go in the first period, and their first goal with 6:00 left. Erik Haula collected a rebound after a Perron shot on goal and slipped the puck under Jones to tie the game 1-1.
Thursday marked the expansion Golden Knights’ first-ever visit to San Jose for a regular season game, and their first game against the Sharks since Nov. 24 when the two teams’ met at T-Mobile Arena.
Vegas has shown that its hot start wasn’t a fluke.
Since beating the Sharks in November, the Golden Knights have gone 21-8-3 and entered Thursday 10 points up on San Jose for first place in the Pacific Division. The Sharks have since gone 17-8-7, and by the time Thursday’s game started, were in a second place tie with Calgary.
So is the Pacific Division title still in reach for San Jose? Probably not after Thursday.
Priority No. 1 for the Sharks would be to stay in one of the top three spots in the Pacific to ensure a spot in the postseason. But a regulation time win for the Sharks on Thursday would have cut the Vegas’ lead to eight with two more games to go between the two franchises over the final two months.
▪ Jamie Baker announced Thursday he is taking a step back from his duties as a Sharks broadcaster to solely focus on his personal well-being.
In a statement released by the Sharks, Baker wrote, “As many of you are aware, I recently took some time away from the broadcast booth to focus on some personal health issues. And although the hockey-player mentality in me always wants to ‘play through the injuries’, I have decided to take a step back from broadcasting for a while to focus my complete energy on my personal wellness.”
Baker initially took a leave of absence from his duties as the Sharks’ color analyst for NBC Sports California on Nov. 11, but returned to be the color analyst on radio for four games in mid-January. He then resumed his duties on NBCSCA for six games later in the month. In Baker’s absence, Bret Hedican will continue to handle color commentating duties for NBCSCA. David Maley will be the color analyst for radio broadcasts.