Golden Knights defenseman Deryk Engelland, center, and teammates salute fans after shutting out the San Jose Sharks 5-0 in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series at T-Mobile Arena Tuesday, April 16, 2019.
Published Tuesday, April 16, 2019 | 3:30 p.m.
Updated Tuesday, April 16, 2019 | 10:10 p.m.
The Golden Knights may not see their home rink until the second round.
Vegas took advantage of subpar goaltending from the San Jose Sharks in Tuesday's Game 4 and claimed a 5-0 victory at T-Mobile Arena to grab a 3-1 lead in the series. Game 5 in San Jose is on Thursday, and Game 6 is back in Vegas on Sunday if necessary.
Vegas entered the third with a 3-0 lead, which morphed into a 4-0 lead on Alex Tuch's first goal of the postseason at 6:37. The fifth came on the power play with 3:36 remaining, when Nate Schmidt threaded a needle to get the puck from the blue line to Jonathan Marchessault for an easy tap-in, his first of the playoffs.
The Golden Knights needed Marc-Andre Fleury to bail them out in the first two periods when he made 26 saves. His teammates gave him a breath in the third, as San Jose mustered just two shots on the Vegas net.
The Sharks ended with a 28-27 advantage in shots on goal.
Evander Kane continued to to make himself acquainted with the penalty box. In the third period he grabbed a minor for cross-checking Paul Stastny, then clocked Colin Miller with a left jab drawing a roughing minor and 10-minute misconduct. It gave him 39 penalty minutes in the series.
Pacioretty adds his second goal of the night
Even a goalie change couldn't stop the Golden Knights from scoring.
Aaron Dell led the Sharks out for the second period, but Vegas added a power-play goal to extend its lead to 3-0 after two periods of Game 4.
The Sharks decided after a period they had seen enough of goalie Martin Jones, and opted for Dell for the second time this series. He played better, but Max Pacioretty still tagged him.
Pacioretty was first denied by Dell on a terrific glove save, but couldn't keep the puck in his glove and the rebound bounced to Pacioretty for the put-back, his second of the night and third point. It came on the power play at 12:33, helping wipe away the team's struggles with puck possession.
Vegas continued to struggle, as it has for most of the series, at 5-on-5. The Golden Knights had only 10 shots past the midpoint of the game with most of the action in front of Marc-Andre Fleury.
Luckily for Vegas, Fleury was on his game. He made 26 saves in the first two periods, and Vegas had 14 shots on goal.
Golden Knights book-end first with goals
They did it again.
The Golden Knights couldn't score in the first minute of the game, they needed an extra 11 seconds. It took Vegas 71 seconds into Tuesday's Game 4 to grab a lead, and carried a 1-0 advantage over the San Jose Sharks into the first intermission.
The Sharks started the game in the Vegas end, but the first breakout the Golden Knights got, they took. Mark Stone carried into the zone and dropped to Max Pacioretty, who whipped it through Stone's legs and by Martin Jones on the team's first shot of the game.
The penalties were just as ripe in the opening 20 minutes as they were in the previous three games. The teams combined for five penalties in the period, though the scoresheet on the power play remained empty.
San Jose was the better team for most of the period, but in the final minute, Shea Theodore decided to show off his chops. He stick-handled his way around the Sharks defense, deked around Jones and slid the second goal of the game into the net at 19:13.
The Sharks led in shots on goal 18-7.
Pre-game
Special teams let the Golden Knights down in Game 1 against the San Jose Sharks. Since then, it's one of the top reasons for their success.
The Golden Knights have controlled the special-teams battle in the last two games of the series and will look to carry that success into today's Game 4 duel at 7:30 p.m. at T-Mobile Arena.
"It's still the most important part of the game," Vegas forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said. "I think for both teams, the amount of power plays in three games, I would believe, is biggest in all the other series."
He's close to right. The Golden Knights-Sharks series has yielded 29 total power plays, fewer only than the 32 between the Calgary Flames and Colorado Avalanche. The difference between the Golden Knights and the Sharks is what they've been able to do with their opportunities.
The Golden Knights have a penalty-kill percentage of 81.3, which is middle of the pack. The Sharks, though, have killed off just 69.2 percent of theirs, which is fourth-worst in the league. Vegas also has two short-handed goals, one short of the three goals allowed while short-handed.
The inverse of a poor San Jose penalty kill is a strong Vegas power play. During the regular season, the Golden Knights converted on 16.8 percent of their chances with an extra man, which ranked 25th in the league. In three playoff games, they have four power-play goals, which is tied for best in the postseason.
Game 4 carries enormous implications with it. Win, and the Golden Knights are one more victory away from advancing to the second round. Lose, and it becomes a three-game series with two of those games in San Jose.
And it's not like Vegas can rest on its laurels form the last two games. The Sharks were dominant in Game 1, and then scored three straight goals in the first period of Game 2. In Vegas Coach Gerard Gallant's mind, the Golden Knights are playing on a clean slate tonight.
Momentum is, "not from game-to-game, it's shift-to-shift," Gallant said. "Teams lose, forget real quick and get ready for the next game. That's what you have to do."
"Tonight's 2-2 or it's 3-1," Gallant said. "It could be a big turning point in the series, but you have to win four games, so they're all huge games."
Western Conference first round
Series: Golden Knights lead 2-1
TV: AT&T Sports Net (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink 1760)
Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM
Betting line: Golden Knights minus-165, Sharks plus-145; over/under: 6.5 (minus-105, minus-115)
Golden Knights (2-1) (1-0 home), Pacific Division No. 3 seed
Coach: Gerard Gallant (second season)
Points leader: Paul Stastny, Mark Stone (8)
Goals leader: Mark Stone (6)
Assists leader: Paul Stastny (6)
Expected goalie: Marc-Andre Fleury (3.35 gaa, .897 save percentage)
Sharks (1-2) (0-1 road), Pacific Division No. 2 seed
Coach: Peter DeBoer (fourth season)
Points leader: Erik Karlsson (5)
Goals leaders: Logan Couture, Tomas Hertl (2)
Assists leader: Erik Karlsson (5)
Expected goalie: Martin Jones (5.24 gaa, .829 save percentage)
Golden Knights expected lineup
Forwards
Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson, Reilly Smith, Max Pacioretty, Paul Stastny, Mark Stone, Tomas Nosek, Cody Eakin, Alex Tuch, William Carrier, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Ryan Reaves
Defensemen
Brayden McNabb, Nate Schmidt, Shea Theodore, Deryk Engelland, Jon Merrill, Colin Miller
Goalies
Marc-Andre Fleury, Malcolm Subban
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