Mark Stone scored the tie-breaking goal on a power play created by a penalty that negated an apparent San Jose goal and the Vegas Golden Knights responded after blowing a three-goal lead in the first period to beat the Sharks 5-3 on Friday night to tie their playoff series at one game apiece.
The craziness continued at the start of the second period when the Sharks briefly celebrated an apparent goal in the opening minute by Brent Burns. That quickly turned to frustration when the officials waved off the goal because Logan Couture interfered with Marc-Andre Fleury, giving the Golden Knights the power play.
Stone converted from the slot after a scramble for his third goal of the series and Vegas held on from there, thanks in part to 34 saves from Fleury.
WATCH | Karlsson’s short-handed tally buries Sharks:
Cody Eakin, Colin Miller and Max Pacioretty all scored in the first period to stake the Golden Knights to the big lead after losing the opener 5-2. William Karlsson added a short-handed goal in the third to ice it.
Couture, Tomas Hertl and Joe Thornton scored for the Sharks, who were doomed by the lacklustre start and a poor power play. Martin Jones was pulled for Aaron Dell after allowing three goals on seven shots.
Perhaps even more concerning for San Jose was the fact that defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic left after blocking a shot in the second period and didn’t return. Couture also missed significant time in the second period after being hit in the groin area by a shot but returned for the third.
The Sharks had chances to tie it with an early power play, but allowed a goal on a breakaway from Karlsson instead to fall behind 5-3. They finished 1 for 8 with the man advantage, along with allowing two short-handed goals.
Vegas coach Gerard Gallant had been unhappy with the compete level of his team in the opener, but that wasn’t a problem early as Eakin scored just 58 seconds into the game after being left alone in the slot and the Golden Knights controlling the play early.