Blog: Smith, Marchessault record 4 points each as Golden Knights pound Sharks

By Justin Emerson

Published Monday, March 18, 2019 | 6:20 p.m.

Updated Monday, March 18, 2019 | 10:05 p.m.

All the pieces were in place for a Golden Knights letdown. They were playing in their third game in three cities in four nights on Monday, and playing a goalie who had never started back-to-back games.

Instead, the Golden Knights looked like the rested team, jumping all over the San Jose Sharks and claiming a 7-3 victory at SAP Center behind four points apiece from Reilly Smith and Jonathan Marchessault.

Malcolm Subban had 36 saves to claim his second victory in as many nights.

Smith had three assists in the first period for Vegas, the most in one period by any Golden Knight this year. Then to start the third, he added a goal. Smith started the play by giving to William Karlsson, who then returned the puck with a gorgeous no-look pass to give Smith a look at an empty net to make it 5-2 Vegas just 43 seconds into the frame.

The Sharks got one back at 10:55 on the power play when Logan Couture blasted a shot from the point into a screen for his second of the game.

Marchessault added an empty-net goal at 17:39, and Cody Eakin scored at 18:22.

Golden Knights extend lead in second

The second period didn't provide the fireworks that the first did, but the Golden Knights expanded their lead to 4-2 over the Sharks.

San Jose had 53 seconds of power-play time to start the period and Vegas took two more penalties in the frame, but the Sharks could not capitalize.

Vegas, however, did.

With Joe Thornton in the box for interference, the Golden Knights pounced at 12:21 of the period. Max Pacioretty's shot bounced up off defenseman Justin Braun, and Paul Stastny grabbed the puck to backhand it home from near the red line to the left of the crease.

It was Stastny's 10th of the season, and Vegas' second power-play goal of the game.

Wild first period has Golden Knights on top

The battle of Pacific Division heavyweights got off to a quick start Monday night. It was wild, and when the smoke cleared the Golden Knights held a 3-2 lead over the San Jose Sharks.

The Sharks landed the first punch, scoring 30 seconds into the game. Logan Couture collected his own rebound alone in front of the net and buried it easily.

The Golden Knights replied with two quick strikes. The first jab was William Karlsson getting loose on a breakaway, and picking up an assist from Couture. Karlsson lost control of the puck on a deke, but it bounced off the stick of a diving Couture and back to Karlsson, who back-handed it home to even the game at 3:37.

Then 2:11 later, Mark Stone capitalized on the power play. Reilly Smith set up with a beautiful zone entry, and after some pitch-and-catch with Jonathan Marchessault, dished to Stone for the finish and the 2-1 Vegas lead.

It wouldn't be a good bout if one fighter took one punch and ran away with it. The Sharks answered just shy of the halfway mark on a goal that Malcolm Subban will want back. Joe Thornton entered the zone and whipped one low from above the faceoff dots and it beat Subban low to the glove side to even the game at 2-2 at 9:54.

The next punch was a decisive blow. San Jose goalie Martin Jones returned Subban's favor with a goal of his own he'll want back off Marchessault's stick at 12:24. The goal chased Jones from the game, as Aaron Dell entered after Jones made nine saves on 12 shots.

Vegas led in shots on goal, 16-9.

Pre-game

The last time the Golden Knights came to the SAP Center for a game that mattered, they skated off the ice in the Western Conference semifinals victorious over the San Jose Sharks in six games.

Plenty has changed since then. Now it's the Golden Knights chasing the Sharks in the standings. It's unlikely that Vegas makes up that ground, but that won't stop them from looking for a big showing against a conference favorite at 7:30 p.m.

"This is another game that we have to make sure we're ready from the start. It's a good challenge," forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said. "When you come in their building and win, that sends a message right away."

The teams split their first two meetings of the year, both in Vegas. The Golden Knights will return to San Jose one more time in the regular season, then possibly in April for the playoffs.

Malcolm Subban will start in net for Vegas, the first time in his career he has started games on back-to-back nights. Marc-Andre Fleury is day-to-day with a lower-body injury and did not make the trip to San Jose. His status moving forward is unclear, and Maxime Lagace will dress as the backup.

Defenseman Nick Holden will also draw into the Vegas lineup tonight, although coach Gerard Gallant declined to say who he would be replacing. It will be Holden's first appearance since Feb. 22 against Winnipeg.

Vegas won't have to confront star defenseman Erik Karlsson, who has not played since Feb. 26. But another tough defenseman has emerged for San Jose: Brent Burns is making a case for the Norris Trophy, leading the team with 74 points and 61 assists.

"They're one of the best teams in the league," Gallant said. "They're scoring a lot of goals and they're at the top of the standings and it should be a fun game."

Emerson's Prediction: Sharks 5, Golden Knights 2

Season record for predictions: Keefer 5-5, Emerson 20-10

TV: AT&T Sports Net (DirecTV 684, Cox 1313, CenturyLink 1760)

Radio: Fox Sports 1340 AM and 98.9 FM

Betting line: Golden Knights plus-160, Sharks minus-170; over/under: 6.5 (minus-135, plus-125)

Golden Knights (40-27-5) (18-17-1 road), third place, Pacific Division

Coach: Gerard Gallant (second season)

Points leader: Mark Stone (69)

Goals leader: Mark Stone (31)

Assists leader: Mark Stone (38)

Expected goalie: Malcolm Subban (2.46 gaa, .914 save percentage)

Sharks (43-21-8) (23-7-5 home), second place, Pacific Division

Coach: Peter DeBoer (fourth season)

Points leader: Brent Burns (74)

Goals leaders: Joe Pavelski (37)

Assists leader: Brent Burns (61)

Expected goalie: Martin Jones (2.86 gaa, .899 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, Ryan Carpenter, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Ryan Reaves

Defensemen

Brayden McNabb, Nate Schmidt, Shea Theodore, Deryk Engelland, Nick Holden, Colin Miller

Goalies

Maxime Lagace, Malcolm Subban