Strong third period for VGK closes out Sharks

The Vegas Golden Knights lit the lamp on three separate occasions in the third period to win their second straight game in as many nights.

Monday night’s victory came at home while Tuesday night’s win came on the road against the San Jose Sharks by a final score of 4-2.

It was quite the milestone night for Vegas forward Phil Kessel who became the all-time leader for consecutive NHL games played with 990. Kessel also notched his 400th career goal which gave the Knights a 1-0 lead in the opening period.

San Jose’s Nico Sturum erased the 1-0 Vegas lead with a game-tying goal that came with just under 15 minutes to play in the second period. San Jose would grab the lead late in the period when left-wing Matt Nieto lit the lamp to give San Jose a 2-1 lead.

Defenseman Shea Theodore tied the game back at 2 within the first minute of the third. Center William Karlsson found the back of the net with under 7 minutes to play to give Vegas a 3-2 lead while Captain Mark Stone put the insurance goal past goalie James Reimer to ensure a 4-2 win for Vegas.

VGK goalie Adin Hill got the nod in net for Vegas who was playing the second game of a back-to-back. Hill finished the evening with 29 saves on 31 shots faced for a final save percentage of .935. Because of the back-to-back, this gave starter Logan Thompson the night off to rest and recover from a 3-1 win over Toronto on Monday.

With the win, Vegas now improves to 6-2-0 on the season with now 12 points in the Pacific Division. Their lead remains at 2 points over Calgary who improves to 5-1-0 on the year with a win on Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins. 5-1-0 is the best start for Calgary in franchise history.

The next time the Vegas Golden Knights will be in action will be on Friday, Oct. 28 against the Anaheim Ducks inside T-Mobile Arena.

This will be the annual “Nevada Day” game for the Knights.

Puck drop is set for 3 p.m. PST on AT&T Sportsnet in Las Vegas and on ESPN+ nationwide. Fans that are interested in attending the game are encouraged to visit AXS.com for more ticket information.