The Sharks hit the road for the first of
back-to-back games to end the preseason on Friday night with a stop in Vegas to
take on the Golden Knights. San Jose rolled out a roster heavy in prospects
that showed real progress, taking it to a veteran heavy Knights lineup. Ethan
Cardwell led the youngsters recording a hat trick, while Pavol Regenda added 4
assists in a bog 4-1 win at T-Mobile Arena.
The Sharks scored in all
three periods, then turned in quality defense that frustrated Vegas all night.
The Cardwell and Regenda show took advantages of their opportunities, which
were limited by a bigger and faster Vegas roster.
Cardwell staked the
Sharks to the early lead just 1:18 into the contest. Regenda made a nice play
to pick Mitch Marner's pocket just inside the San Jose zone. Reganda move the
puck ice to Cardwell who slid towards the slot from the top of the right circle
before snapping a top shelf shot that beat former Sharks netminder Adin Hill
for his 1st of the preseason.
Knights defenseman Jeremy Lauzon started
to take liberties with several Sharks skaters before Zack Ostapchuk stepped in
to square up. The duel ended quickly after Ostapchuk lost his balance and fell
to the ice 10 seconds into the bout.
A Carl Grundstrom cross checking
penalty at 14:07 was followed by a tripping call to Shane Bowers with 13
seconds remaining on the initial call. The Sharks killed both penalties on
decent goaltender from Alex Nedeljkovic and a penalty kill that moved well
positionally.
San Jose held the 1-0 lead after 20 minutes, even though
they were out-shot 8-6 in the period. The Knights did a better job of limiting
the Sharks offensive chances in the middle frame. A Will Smith hooking penalty
11:47 in didn't help the San Jose offense.
Brett Howden was called for
goaltender interference at 11:47, setting up the Sharks 2nd goal of the night.
Regenda setup Egor Afanasyev with a no-look pass through the slot for a one
time chance that beat Hill by a country mile. Cardwell was credited with the
secondary assist for his 2nd point of the night.
Lauzon kept up his
late hit clinic, hitting Regenda at the 2nd period buzzer. Vincent Desharnais
went after Lauzon, earning a roughing penalty for his trouble. Opening the 3rd
period, San Jose killed their 4th penalty of the night to preserve their 2-0
lead.
San Jose added to their lead at 6:48 of the period when Cardwell
bagged his 2nd of the night. Regenda setup the goal on the right side for his
3rd assist of the night.
Things got testy when Carl Grundstrom sent Zach
Whitecloud into the boards after boarding him. Keegan Kolesar flew off the
handle, trying to even the score by going after Sam Dickinson triggering an all
hands scrum.
The Knights finally got on the board with 12:49 remaining
on an Alexander Holtz goal.
Nedeljkovic denied Reilly Smith with 6
minutes remaining after the Knights forward slipped past a Sharks defender. The
play helped San Jose maintain their 2-goal lead. Hill matched Nedeljkovic with
3 minutes to play on a stop in front of the net.
Cardwell capped the
scoring with an empty net goal to finalize the hat trick.
Game
Notes: * Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky used the game to evaluate
prospects Sam Dickinson, Egor Afnaseyev, Quentin Musty, Luca Cagnoni, Cam Lund,
Collin Graf, Michael Misa, Pavol Regenda, and Ethan Cardwell.
* Alex
Nedeljkovic made 29 saves in the win. The netminder was solid all night.
* Cardwell had 7 of the sharks 20 shots on goal in the contest. Egore
Afanasyev was the only other Shark with more than 1 shot on goal (2).
* Vegas owned the Sharks in the faceoff circle, winning 40 of 62 draws for a
65% conversion rate. Ty Dellandrea led San Jose with 11 wins in 22 draws (50%).
Shane Bowers converted on only 2 of 10 draws.
* The prospect
evaluations:
*** Looked Good: Ethan Cardwell, Pavol Regenda, Sam
Dickinson
*** Didn't Hurt Themselves: Michael Misa, Luca
Cagnoni
*** Rough Night: Quentin Musty, Will Smith
