FSM Essential Recap: Golden Knights vs Sharks - Game 21

The Vegas Golden Knights came into Saturday night’s matchup determined to not let a repeat of Friday’s game happen where they gave the Sharks too much hope for comfort.

Marc Andre Fleury was back in net to take on Devin Dubnyk Saturday night, who has historically performed well against the VGK. Chandler Stephenson put him to the test early as he registered a great chance in close but failed to give his team the early lead as he was stuffed by the Shark’s goaltender. After most of the period had passed without many plays that especially stood out Vegas finally got on to the scoresheet thanks to their captain.

With 4:58 remaining Mark Stone finally broke the ice after he and Chandler Stephenson had some give-and-go passes to each other before #61 found twine. Forty-five seconds later Fleury ensured that his team kept the lead after robbing Kevin LeBanc with a tremendous glove save. The Vegas goaltender came up big again with 32.3 seconds remaining as he stopped John Leonard from point-blank range.

The second period began in the same way that the first one ended with Marc Andre Fleury stopping John Leonard yet again as he followed up on a dangerous rebound chance.

Just over five minutes into the second frame Alex Tuch continued his hot streak as he beat Devin Dubnyk glove side to put his team up 2-0. The goal was his seventh in seven games and eleventh of the season, Tuch has been on fire lately and has been instrumental in the VGK’s success so far this season. With 10:57 left Mario Ferraro took a slashing penalty and gave the Knights their first powerplay of the evening. Vegas came close to scoring after Alex Pietrangelo hit the crossbar but unfortunately could not score with the man advantage.

The middle period saw Vegas dominate possession and pace of play as they held San Jose without a shot for over six minutes and continued to pad widen their lead. With 3:22 remaining Alex Tuch scored yet another goal to make his streak eight goals in seven games and twelve on the season, tying Max Pacioretty for the team lead in goals scored. As the clock wound down Tuch almost netted his third goal of the night but it would not go in. He has yet to score a hat trick in his career and you could tell he was hungry for that third one the rest of the night.

The third and final period saw the VGK place a stranglehold on the Sharks adding to their lead and ensuring that Marc Andre fleury left the building with a shutout.

Alex Tuch continued to hound the puck and was even double-shifted a few times in an attempt to finally get that first hat trick of his career, recording a season-high six shots on net. Even though he did not get his wish he was a huge part of the VGK putting the sharks away with ease. About halfway through the period, the Knights led the Sharks in scoring chances by a total of 20-10, a welcome change from Friday’s game which was much closer. With 8:57 remaining it was Reilly Smith who widened the lead as he roofed a puck past Dubnyk for the final goal of the game. After not scoring a goal in ten games, Saturday marked the second game in a row that Reilly Smith scored in so hopefully he can start to build a hot streak of his own. San Jose was awarded a powerplay in the final minutes but could not solve Fleury, who recorded a league-leading fourth shutout to give his team the victory.

The Vegas Golden Knights will resume play Monday evening taking on the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center. The puck drop is set for 5:00 p.m. and will be on AT&T Sportsnet and FOX Sports Las Vegas 98.9/1340.

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-D.J. Wood– Franchise Sports Media

Follow D.J. on Twitter @DJwoody97

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