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The Vegas Golden Knights scored three power play goals to get the first rivalry victory of the season.
The Knights beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-1, Saturday, Feb 13.
Next, Vegas (9-2-1) will host the Colorado Avalanche, Sunday, Feb 14 in the first game of the four-game series.
The Knights and the Sharks’ rivalry began in 2017-18, the Knights inaugural season, and 12 penalties indicated it’s still alive.
Vegas knocked the sharks out in the second round of playoffs that year, 4-2 series.
The next year, the Sharks knocked the Knights out of the first round of the playoffs, in a 4-3 series.
Head Coach Pete DeBoer went 198-129-34 as the head coach of the San Jose Sharks head coach for five years before coming to Vegas in Jan of 2020.
“These games are never easy, coming back into a situation like this,” DeBoer. “I think the game you just want to get through and get out, obviously glad to win. I thought San Jose played a good game, thought our guys came and played a good game. It was a hard-fought game at ice level.”
Center Jonathan Marchessault scored the first power play goal, 13 minutes into the first period with assists by defenseman Alec Martinez and center Chandler Stephenson.
Less than a minute later, right-wing Ryan Reaves and Evander Kane each served a two minute penalty, making it a 4-on-4.
Defensemen Zach Whitecloud joined Reeves in the penalty box but Sharks were unable to capitalize on the 4-on-3.
In the second period, right-wing Mark Stone scored the second power play goal of the night to give Vegas a 2-0 lead. Both center William Karlsson and center Cody Glass got assists.
Stone has a point in 10 out of the first 12 games. He now has 16 points with four goals and 12 assists.
The Sharks closed the gap, 2-1, with at the end of the second period.
“Simplifying, that was the biggest thing,” Glass said. “[We] scored off the rush [and] scored differently. That’s what makes us dangerous, we can score anyway.”
Stephenson put in the third power play goal of the night in the third period.
He moved to the second most goals on the team with five, one behind left-wing Max Pacioretty.
Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury got his first back to back start in a year. He is 6-1-0 with a 1.58 goals against average. Fleury is top three in the league.
“That’s ‘Flower,’” Stephenson said. He’s the backbone of the team, [he] drives us [and] makes us go. Whenever we need a save or some momentum, he’s always there to bail us out.”