A five-goal first period by the Golden Knights set the tone for the rest of this contest, as the Sharks get dominated by Vegas by a score of 7-2 to head into the holiday break on a three-game losing streak.
The Golden Knights got off to a quick start in this one, jumping out to a 5-0 lead in the first period on goals from Brett Howden, Mitch Marner, Colton Sissons, Tomas Hertl, and Mark Stone. After giving up the fourth goal to Tomas Hertl, Yaroslav Askarov was pulled from the Sharks net and replaced by Alex Nedeljkovic. This was not entirely Askarov’s fault for not having a great outing and his night ending before the conclusion of the opening period, compiling 12 saves.
The Sharks got on the board early in the second period on Macklin Celebrini’s 19th goal of the season, assisted by Tyler Toffoli, to at least help San Jose avoid getting shut out. With about a minute left in the middle frame, Reilly Smith scored to restore the Golden Knights’ five-goal lead.
Vegas picked up where they left off early in the third period, putting up a seven spot on Mitch Marner’s second goal of the game. The Sharks got one more back soon after on Collin Graf’s tenth goal of the season, assisted by Tyler Toffoli and Alex Wennberg. Speaking of Graf, he was in a full face shield in this game due to taking a puck to the face during practice recently.
Alex Nedeljkovic made seven saves on ten shots against in relief for Askarov. In addition, Ethan Cardwell and Nick Leddy entered the Sharks lineup tonight in place of Adam Gaudette and Vincent Iorio respectively.
Overall, the Sharks were chasing this one from the very beginning, and it was a terrible last game before the holidays for Team Teal. However, there are a few positive aspects worth discussing here: Collin Graf has stepped up big time as of late when most other Sharks players have not, and Macklin Celebrini has tied Sidney Crosby for the most points before Christmas in a season by a teenager in NHL history with 55. The Sharks and the rest of the NHL have the next three days off for the holidays, and then the Sharks will travel to Vancouver to face the Canucks in their next game on Saturday at 7 pm PT.
Sources: San Jose Hockey Now, NBC Sports California, NHL App
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