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Ugly start for San
Jose
Season kicks off with a thud in
Vegas
The 2019-20 NHL season got underway on Wednesday
night, and the San Jose Sharks executed a glorious belly-flop en route to a 4-1
loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena in Southern Nevada. San Jose
looked out-classed all night, holding no momentum in this stinker.
Four months removed from a Conference Championship appearance, the Sharks
looked like an AHL team matched up against their rivals from Vegas. The Knights
out-skated, out-shot and out scored the Sharks, who were skating without
Evander Kane and Erik Karlsson.
Kane's absence was no mystery, having
been suspended two days earlier for his antics in a pre-season game against
Vegas last weekend. The real gut-shot was Karlsson's absence, which was
announced an hour before the game. The Sharks defenseman participated in the
morning skate, but left the arena to deal with what the team called a 'personal
matter.'
The absence of Karlsson's speed was a big loss, coming against
a team that is loaded with speed.
Brent Burns failed to answer the
opening bell and got caught flat footed deep in his zone early in the contest.
The defenseman was forced to haul down William Carrier at 2:48 of the contest.
Vegas took advantage when Mark Stone buried a second chance from the left dot
58 seconds into the power play. Stone clanked a shot off the right post moments
before a loose puck found it's way back to the Vegas forward.
Riley
Smith collected a William Karlsson feed less than three minutes later and put a
shot past Martin Jones as he skated down the slot. Marcus Sorensen missed his
defensive assignment, covering space in the left corner and Smith had all day
to navigate between the circles.
Brandon Pirri was called for hooking
Timo Meier at 5:47, but the Sharks negated the power play when Kevin Labanc
took his own hooking penalty a minute later. Sorensen was sent off for slashing
at 9:52, but Paul Stastny countered with his own slash 7 seconds later.
Once Sorensen found his way back to the ice, he turned in the first
positive of the season by snapping a wrist-shot past Marc-Andre Fleury from the
high slot at 12:14. The Sharks forward took a Logan Couture feed and lifted the
puck over Fleury's left shoulder for his 1st goal of the season.
San
Jose failed to use the first intermission to regroup, coming out to open the
2nd period with more poor defense. A turnover near the right wing boards as San
Jose thought they were clearing the zone turned into Cody Glass' first NHL goal
at 2:12. Max Pacioretty stripped Mario Ferraro before sending a cross ice pass
to Glass on the left side. The rookie forward one-timed a shot that slipped
under Jones' stick for the 3-1 Vegas lead.
Sorensen appeared to cut into the Knights lead with 62
seconds left in the middle frame when he deflected a shot past Fleury from just
outside the left post, but a review deemed the puck was redirected with a high
stick.
Shea Theodore was called for hooking 3:08 into the 3rd period,
setting up one last chance for the Sharks to make a run at the Knight's lead.
San Jose would trip yet again, when they allowed Smith and William Karlsson to
skate up the ice uncontested, before depositing a short-handed goal.
The rest of the game was just clock-killing. San Jose did nothing to even make
a fight of it after going down 4-1.
Game Notes:
* New
team captain Logan Couture recorded 1 shot on goal, in 18:18 of ice time and
was 3 of 9 from the face off circle.
* Marc-Edouard Vlasic was on the
ice for three of the Knights four goals. It was a rough night for the Sharks
senior defenseman.
* San Jose rolled out a slew of new players,
including Dalton Prout, Mario Ferraro, Lean Bergmann, and Danil Yurtaykin.
Jonny Brodzinski was a healthy scratch.
* Martin Jones finished the
evening with 31 saves on 35 shots. Jones play wasn't stellar, but it was a
little lopsided given the absence of defense in front of him all night.
* Tomas Nosek nearly decapitated Kevin Labanc in the third period with
a high stick that caught the Sharks forward in the throat. Labanc was helped
off the ice and did not return.
* Logan Couture and Nate Schmidt ran
into each other in a knee-on-knee collision that landed Schmidt in the locker
room with a left knee injury.
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think of this story? Post your comments on the
Feeder Forums |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| VGK |
2 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
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| 1st period - 1, VGK,
Stone 1 (unassisted), 3:46, (pp). 2, VGK, Smith 1 (Karlsson), 5:21. 3, SJ,
Sorensem 1 (Couture, Burns), 12:14. |
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| 2nd period - 4, VGK,
Glass 1 (Pacioretty, Stone), 2:12. |
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| 3rd period - 5, VGK,
Smith 2 (Karlsson), 4:00, (sh). |
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| 1st period - Burns, SJ
(tripping), 2:48; Pirri, VGK (hooking), 5:47; Labanc, SJ (hooking), 6:47;
Sorensen, SJ (slashing), 9:52; Stastny, VGK (slashing), 9:59. |
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| 2nd period - M.
Karlsson, SJ (slashing), 6:02; McNabb, VGK (roughing), 13:44. |
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| 3rd period - Theodore,
VGK (hooking), 3:08; Nosek, VGK (high sticking), 14:59. |
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Shots |
Saves |
| SJ - Jones |
35 |
31 |
| VGK - Fleury |
22 |
21 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
T |
| SJ |
8 |
5 |
9 |
22 |
| VGK |
12 |
16 |
7 |
35 |
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| Referees: Joanette,
Pochmara. Linesmen: Gibbons, Gawryletz. |
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