Knights know they need to give more in Game 5
ISAN JOSE, Calif. T took eight Stanley Cup playoff games, which is an indication of how well the Golden Knights had performed during a maiden postseason voyage, but the time that eventually finds all sides has arrived.
Time not to panic, but certainly to re-evaluate some things.
Adversity is at the front door of Vegas, and it’s knocking with some purpose.
The Knights were outplayed Wednesday night like no other time in these playoffs, falling to San Jose 4-0 before an announced sellout of 17,562 at the SAP Center, where the Sharks evened this best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal at two games apiece.
It’s a best-of-three now, and while Vegas knows it would own home ice in two of the games, it can’t have a repeat of Wednesday and expect to survive another round.
GRANEY
received a superb performance from their fourth line. Joonas Donskoi, Tomas Hertl and Joe Pavelski also scored to help San Jose even the best-of-seven series at two games each.
Game 5 is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at T-mobile Arena.
“You come on the road and you’re not always going to win every game on the road,” Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault said. “But we won one and we go back home and get the momentum from the crowd, and I definitely like our chances.”
Goaltender Marc-andre Fleury finished with 30 stops for the Knights.
“You’re never happy when you lose,” Fleury said. “We had a chance to hurt them tonight with a win, and we didn’t. Back to square one. It’s a tied series, and we just have to get ready for the next one.”
The Knights got off to a better start than they did in Games 2 or 3, as Erik Haula and Reilly Smith created scoring chances in the first nine minutes and Nate Schmidt’s shot hit the post on a power play late in the first period.
Despite the effort, the Knights allowed two goals in the final 4:23 of the period and trailed 2-0.
Sorensen put San Jose ahead when he scooped up the puck along the wall and broke free from Alex Tuch. Sorensen then cut around a sliding Jon Merrill and lifted the puck over Fleury for his fourth goal of the playoffs.
Sharks forward Eric Fehr appeared to make contact with Tuch, which helped give Sorensen extra space, but no penalty was called despite the Knights’ protests.
“You guys (saw) the play,” Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. “That’s all I’m going to say about it.”
Donskoi, who missed Game 3 with a lower-body injury, increased the Sharks’ lead when he went end-toend with 5.1 seconds remaining in the period.
Donskoi used Knights defenseman Brayden Mcnabb as a screen and snapped the shot through Mcnabb’s legs for his second goal this postseason.