Vegas Golden Knights keep on rolling in preseason after topping Sharks

There seems to be no stopping the Vegas Golden Knights as they improved to 4-0-0 in the preseason following a 3-1 win against the San Jose Sharks at the SAP Center on Saturday.

After racking up victories against the Arizona Coyotes, Colorado Avalanche and the LA Kings, the Vegas Golden Knights rounded off their slate of exhibition games on the road by beating their bitter rivals and maintaining their perfect preseason record, outscoring their opponents 17-5 in the process.

Both the Knights and the Sharks gave ice time to some of their more established stars with Marc-Andre Fleury making his preseason debut for Vegas, while new franchise Captain Logan Couture got his first taste of exhibition action for San Jose.

High-end rookies in the ilk of Cody Glass, Jimmy Schuldt and Dylan Coghlan were given another chance to showcase their credentials for why they should be considered for a spot on the opening night roster, but it was the veterans who really stole the show for the Vegas Golden Knights.

Max Pacioretty tallied one goal and two assists for a three point night, while Fleury was dialled in from the first drop of the puck as he stopped 28 of the 29 shots he faced, including all 11 shots fired at him in the first period.

It was also another memorable night for Glass who continued to impress after posting a two point night with two helpers and a plus/minus rating of +1. The battle for the left wing role on the third line is really hotting up and Glass may well have pushed himself to the front of the pack after another dominant game.

All in all, it was yet another encouraging outing for the Golden Knights and, with just three preseason games – all at home – time is running out for certain players to catch the eye and try to win the one or two roster spots that are still currently open.

However, let’s stick with the present for now and breakdown the Knights’ win over the San Jose Sharks period by period, before going over some notes and stats…

The Line-Up

Marc-Andre Fleury was given his first taste of preseason action and other established veterans such as Reilly Smith, Max Pacioretty and Cody Eakin also took to the ice for the Golden Knights’ fourth exhibition game.

Eakin centered a second line between Valentin Zykov and Smith, while the likes of Brandon Pirri, Tomas Nosek and Nicolas Roy helped to make up the bottom six for Vegas.

Cody Glass has featured heavily throughout the preseason and he was put on the top line between Pacioretty and Alex Tuch as his quest to win a roster spot continued, while rookies Dylan Coghlan, Zach Whitecloud and Jimmy Schuldt were also on the lineup card, along with proven blueliners in Jon Merrill, Brayden McNabb and Nick Holden.

The Game

First Period – There is one hell of a battle for the vacant left wing role on the third line currently being played out, with Cody Glass, Valentin Zykov, Brandon Pirri and Tomas Nosek all vying for just one spot.

And it was Zykov who drew first blood after backhanding home the puck on the rebound after Max Pacioretty was denied by Martin Jones. Cody Glass also had a helper on the goal and it was a smart initial play from the rookie.

The other star of the first period was Marc-Andre Fleury who stopped all 11 shots he faced in the opening period, including making a couple of outstanding pad saves early as the Sharks piled the pressure on.

We also got a look at Alex Tuch on the penalty kill, albeit a small sample size, and as we mentioned in a piece last week, it is an experiment that looks well worth persevering with. Tuch’s size, skill, speed and extraordinary reach really disrupted the Sharks’ power play and the PK could have a new look for the Knights in the regular season.

Second Period – Dylan Coghlan produced a stunning play to break up a 2-on-1 and it was another slice of evidence that suggests Coghlan is leading the race to win the one remaining roster spot that is open on the blueline.

Another player who has been on an absolute tear in the preseason was Max Pacioretty and the forward tallied his fourth goal of the preseason at 14:38 in the second, one-timing it past Martin Jones off another sublime pass from Cody Glass.

It was stunning vision from Glass and there is no doubt now, at least in our opinion, that the two-way forward is ready to make the leap to the NHL and, not only that, but he’s got all the tools in his locker to take the big leagues by storm.

San Jose did pull one back before the end of the period as Antti Suomela deflected a Marc-Edouard Vlasic shot past Marc-Andre Fleury – the only shot the future Hall of Famer would allow to breach his goal.

Third Period – The scoring was complete early in the final period of the game and it was a power play tuck for the Golden Knights. Max Pacioretty and Alex Tuch played a game of tic-tac-toe with the latter snapping it beyond Jones. Rookie defenseman Jimmy Schuldt also got a helper on the goal.

Vegas outshot the Sharks 11-9 in the third period and they had chances to further fluff up the scoreline with Dylan Coghlan and Valentin Zykov both being denied by the pads of Martin Jones. The Sharks pulled Jones but were unable to take advantage of having an extra skater on the ice and it was the Golden Knights who finished victorious and moved to 4-0-0 in the preseason as a result.