Knights win 5-4 in overtime after squandering big lead at San Jose
Knights rest Fleury as Dansk starts in goal
Oscar Dansk skated to the bench during a timeout late in the third period and was greeted with some words of encouragement from defenseman Nick Holden.
Jonathan Marchessault and Alex Tuch followed with a fist bump.
The Golden Knights picked up their backup goalie after his late miscue in the third period and pulled out a 5-4 overtime win on Friday at SAP Center in San Jose, California.
Max Pacioretty scored at 1:25 of the extra session and finished with two goals and an assist. Alex Tuch scored in the third period to help the first-place Knights (154-1, 31 points) win their fifth straight overall.
“I think it just shows what kind of team we are,” Dansk said. “We’ve got each other’s backs out there, and we don’t ever give in or give up. Obviously, it felt unbelievable. It was an unfortunate play, and I’ve got to be better than that. But that’s team sports. We help each other
out.”
Reilly Smith scored his first goal since Feb. 7 and Chandler Stephenson added a goal in the first period. Mark Stone finished with two assists and has nine points in his past three games.
The Knights have won three straight over their rival and are 10-4 all time in the regular season against San Jose. In the past six meetings, the Knights are 5-0-1 and have outscored the Sharks 2110 over that stretch.
Dansk started in the first game of a back to back against the Sharks as Marc-andre Fleury was given a rest after starting the past 10 games. Dansk finished with 25 saves in his sixth career NHL appearance and first start since Feb. 21, 2019, at Philadelphia. He improved to 4-1 lifetime.
“I think the guys wanted to play hard for him and find a way to get a win for him,” coach Pete Deboer said. “Unfortunate bounce there at the end, but the guys dug deep, and the most important thing was he found a way to win.”
Dansk made a key save on Patrick Marleau on a third-period Sharks power play but couldn’t handle a rolling puck and allowed Kevin Labanc to tap in the tying goal with 1:07 remaining.
Pacioretty then notched his fourth game-winning goal on the Knights’ only shot of overtime.
Knights forward Ryan Reaves, who fought San Jose’s Kurtis Gabriel off the opening faceoff of the third, was helped off the ice late in the period.
The Knights scored three goals on eight shots against Sharks goalie Martin Jones, who was pulled early in the second period after Pacioretty’s long-distance shot slipped through his pads.
San Jose answered at 6:01 of the second period when defenseman Brent Burns’ drive from the point went in off the post to cut the Knights lead to 3-1.
Officials initially didn’t see the puck go in the net, and the in-arena horn sounded in the middle of play so it could be confirmed by review.
The power-play goal snapped the Knights’ streak of 20 straight successful penalty kills.
Fourth-line forward Matt Nieto converted on an odd-man rush at 12:43 of the second to bring San Jose within a goal.
The rivals faced off for the first time since their heated encounter Feb. 13, which featured Jonathan Marchessault taking out Sharks defenseman Radim Simek and Reilly Smith tangling with San Jose’s Evander Kane late.
Tensions simmered in the first period after the Knights scored two goals 1:15 apart to take control.
Smith scored his fourth goal at 5:48, snapping a 10-game goal drought. William Karlsson circled the net and drew a pair of Sharks defensemen toward him before he slid a pass to Smith, who was camped alone at opposite side of the net.
Stephenson added to the lead when he swatted a chip pass from Stone through the legs of Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro and past Jones for his seventh goal.