Sharks’ shot at win in Vegas foiled by 3rdperiod letdown
After a threegoal second period in Las Vegas, it appeared the fifth time might be the charm for the Sharks. But it was not to be.
The Golden Knights got goals from Cody Glass, Nicolas Hague, Ryan Reaves and Alec Martinez in an 8:03 span of the final period and beat San Jose for the fifth time in five meetings this season, winning 54 on Wednesday night.
The Sharks fell behind on Shea Theodore’s firstperiod goal, but bounced back in the second period as Matt Nieto (goal No. 5), Mario Ferraro (No. 1) and Kevin Labanc (No. 8) each beat goalie MarcAndre Fleury. The spree gave San Jose its first multigoal lead against Vegas this season.
After the Golden Knights’ fourgoal outburst in the third, the Sharks made it interesting as Evander Kane scored his 12th goal on a power play at 15:54, but Vegas withstood San Jose’s offensive effort the rest of the way.
Devan Dubnyk made 32 saves for the Sharks, who have lost two in a row following their first threegame winning streak of the season.
Fleury stopped 29 shots for West Divisionleading Vegas, which became the third NHL team to reach 20 wins this season.
Rangers 9, Flyers 0: Mika Zibanejad had a hat trick and three assists — all during a seven-goal second period — and Alexandar Georgiev made 26 saves for the shutout for host New York, which played without head coach David Quinn and assistants Jacques Martin, David Oliver and Greg
Brown because of the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol. Minor-league coaches Kris Knoblauch and Gord Murphy, and associate general manager Chris Drury, were behind the bench for the Rangers. “You didn’t have much time to think about it,” Knoblauch said when asked about pregame preparation as the acting head coach. “It’s certainly a night that I will never forget.” Zibanejad became the second player in NHL history to register six points in a period, joining Bryan Trottier, who accomplished the feat in 1978 for the Islanders against the Rangers
Canucks 3, Senators 2: Adam Gaudette scored in the fourth round of the shootout to give visiting Vancouver its third consecutive win. Ottawa has lost five of its past six.
Jets 4, Canadiens 3: Nikolaj Ehlers scored at 55 seconds of overtime to give host Winnipeg a victory. Montreal sent the game to the extra period when Tyler Toffoli scored with 1:25 left in regulation.
Oilers 7, Flames 3: Connor McDavid had a goal and two assists and Tyson Barrie added four assists as visiting Edmonton ended a two-game slide. Calgary had won three in a row.
Kings 4, Blues 1: Trevor Moore and Anze Kopitar each had a goal and an assist as host Los Angeles snapped a two-game skid. St. Louis has lost five in a row after a four-game winning streak.
NOTES Struggling Sabres fire head coach
Less than two years into his tenure and with the team in the midst of a 0102 skid, Buffalo head coach Ralph Krueger was fired. Assistant coach Don Granato will take over the team on an interim basis.
At 6184, the Sabres have as many wins as times they’ve been shut out, rank last in the league in victories, points and goals scored, and are in jeopardy of extending their playoff drought to an NHL recordmatching 10th season.
“This is about results that haven’t been good enough,” Buffalo GM Kevyn Adams said. “This is about how do we improve. I believe every crisis is an opportunity for change. And this is a chance for us to move forward and begin to get this thing pointed in the right direction.”
Briefly: Islanders wing Anders Lee is out for the rest of the season with a right knee injury that requires surgery. The team captain, second on the team last season with 20 goals, was injured last Thursday . ... Minnesota defenseman Carson Soucy was suspended for one game for charging Arizona forward Conor Garland on Tuesday.