Tomas Hertl scored two goals and rookie Carl Lindbom made 18 saves to earn his first NHL victory as the Vegas Golden Knights ended a four-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night in Las Vegas.
It was the 36th multi-goal game of Hertl’s career and the first this season. Mitch Marner had a goal and an assist, and Colton Sissons also scored for Vegas, which earned its ninth straight win over San Jose while improving its all-time record against the Sharks to 29-2-5.
Will Smith scored twice and William Eklund also scored for San Jose. Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 20 of 24 shots.
Smith, playing in his 100th NHL game, gave San Jose a 1-0 lead at 7:34 of the first period when he fired a wrist shot near the left faceoff circle past Lindbom’s glove and into the far top corner.
Vegas ended a three-game streak trailing 2-0 when Hertl equalized late in the period, collecting a loose puck in the slot and then firing a wrist shot past Nedeljkovic’s blocking side.
The Golden Knights took a 4-1 lead in the second period on back-to-back goals from Sissons, Marner and Hertl. Sissons corralled the rebound of a Keegan Kolesar shot at the end of an odd-man rush at 5:36. Marner came around the net and fired a shot around the right post at 7:02. Hertl redirected Marner’s point shot under Nedeljkovic’s pads for a power play goal at 12:38.
But San Jose rallied to cut the lead to 4-3 late in the period on a power-play goal by Smith, who came off a Kolesar turnover in front of the net, and a breakaway goal by Eklund off a pass from Adam Gaudette following a neutral zone giveaway from Alexander Holtz.
The Sharks pulled Nedeljkovic for an extra attacker with 1:45 to play and the Golden Knights missed a couple chances to seal the score with errant empty-net tries from Marner and Brayden McNabb. McNabb then took a cross-checking penalty with 34.5 seconds remaining to give San Jose a 6-on-4 power play, but Lindbom stopped wrist shots from Alexander Wennberg and Eklund in the frantic final seconds to earn his first victory in seven career starts.
–Field level media
