The Vegas Golden Knights’ hot streak continued with a 6-3 victory against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Friday.
It marked the fifth straight win for Vegas and ninth in 10 games.
“We knew we had to come back to our game,” forward Tomáš Hertl said. “It was a nice win after the Christmas break, but we have to be ready against anybody.”
Six Golden Knights scored – Noah Hanifin, Mark Stone, Brayden McNabb, Jack Eichel, Pavel Dorofeyev, and Brett Howden. Adin Hill made 22 saves for Vegas (24-8-3).
The Golden Knights have yet to lose a regular season game in SAP Center in regulation (13-0-3).
Here are three takeaways from the game:
Golden Knights rally … again
The Golden Knights scored three times in a six-minute span to break the game wide open.
McNabb, Eichel, and Dorofeyev all scored during that stretch to make a 3-2 game deficit into a 5-3 lead.
It marked the 14th time Vegas rallied from a deficit and the sixth time they’ve done so in the third period.
Not one, but two shorties
The biggest aspect of the comeback came early when the Golden Knights scored back-to-back shorthanded goals.
McNabb scored the first one at 1:03 with a nifty toe drag and shot far post.
“That was a big goal, great goal,” defenseman Alex Pietrangelo said. “McNabb’s skill is so underrated.”
Then, 23 seconds later, Eichel followed up with his own goal.
“In the third, I think obviously the short-handed goals, I’m not sure we would have drew it up like that,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. “We’re on the power play, and all of a sudden, we’re short-handed. Now we have the lead a minute later. So for the guys to get into attack mode and stay in attack mode, I think from there we recognized let’s get this thing to the finish line.”
The Golden Knights have had a lot of shorthanded opportunities this season. Most of it stems from how Cassidy wants his penalty killers to play: aggressive but disciplined. Given the skill on the penalty kill, it is no surprise that the Golden Knights’ penalty kill has been trending in the right direction.
Hertl’s Homecoming
Before the game, the San Jose Sharks honored Hertl with a “Welcome Back” video honoring the former Shark, who played 11 seasons with the team.
Hertl had a quiet game in his return to the SAP Center. He had one shot on goal and was 5-of-8 in the face-off circle.
