It has been a perfect start to the 2019-20 NHL regular season for the Vegas Golden Knights after they cruised to a 5-1 success over the San Jose Sharks on Friday night.
Just a couple of days after they got the better of their bitter rivals in the season opener at T-Mobile Arena, the Vegas Golden Knights beat up on the Sharks again at SAP Center to start the year 2-0-0.
Marc-Andre Fleury, playing in his 800th NHL career game, stopped 34 of 35 shots in a stellar showing between the pipes while Tomas Nosek recorded two goals and one assist for the first three-point night of the bottom six forward’s career.
William Carrier, Jonathan Marchessault and Brayden McNabb all tallied their first goals of the year, and Mark Stone also helped himself to two assists to make it four points (one goal, three assists) in his first two games.
It was a dominant display overall from the Golden Knights who didn’t give the Sharks an inch, and they claimed a huge divisional win in the Pacific Division for the second consecutive game.
But, what did we learn from the Golden Knights’ second victory of 2019-20?
Let’s delve into our biggest takeaways from the contest…
1. These two teams really don’t like each other
The Vegas Golden Knights and the San Jose Sharks has now developed into one of, if not the greatest rivalry in the NHL.
And we aren’t even being biased.
Playing in the same division obviously helps to stoke the flames but meeting each other in the postseason in each of the last two years has really added fuel to the fire.
Not many people predicted that the Knights and the Sharks would develop such a passionate dislike for each other when Vegas entered the NHL in 2017, but a plethora of heated contests has created a glorious new rivalry that is a lot of fun to watch.
It reached boiling point in the playoffs last year after Vegas forward Cody Eakin was controversially assessed a five-minute major penalty and a game misconduct for a cross-check on Joe Pavelski, which shifted the momentum firmly into the Sharks’ favor and led to the Knights’ early postseason exit.
The bad taste left in the mouth from that Game 7 carried over into the preseason with Evander Kane handed a three-game suspension after losing the plot in the final exhibition game against the Knights and, after a fairly calm season opener between these two teams, all hell broke loose last night.
With a combined total of 76 PIM and 57 hits, a heated matchup reached an explosive crescendo late in the third period when a flurry of players came together after Barclay Goodrow had got San Jose on the board.
It culminated in a grand total of six players, yes six, chucked out of the game and handed Game Misconducts with Vegas losing William Karlsson, Deryk Engelland and Nic Hague, while the Sharks lost Marcus Sorensen, Joe Thornton and Barclay Goodrow.
It was a reminder that this new rivalry is as fierce and ferocious as ever, and we should be treated to plenty more fireworks throughout 2019-20.