Pacioretty's OT goal gives Golden Knights 5-4 win vs Sharks

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- — Max Pacioretty scored his second goal of the game in overtime and the Vegas Golden Knights recovered after allowing a bizarre tying goal late in the third period to beat the San Jose Sharks 5-4 on Friday night.

Pacioretty converted off a pass from Alex Pietrangelo to beat Devan Dubnyk 1:25 into overtime for his third OT goal of the season to end a wild game that gave Vegas a five-game winning streak.

“You have to have the mindset that you're going to attack on the 3 on 3,” Pacioretty said. “If you don't take many chances, you won't create much and end up in your own end.”

The Sharks had tied the game with 1:07 left in regulation came after Brent Burns’ clear attempt bounced toward goalie Oscar Dansk as Kevin Labanc came rushing toward him. Dansk tried to knock the puck away, but didn’t make clean contact and it hit off Labanc’s stick and went into the open net to tie the game.

“We told him not to worry about it,” Pietrangelo said. “Stuff happens. Breakdowns happen. It's how you pick him up. ... I love to see guys like that get rewarded.”

The Golden Knights had led 3-0 after knocking out Martin Jones early in the second and went back up 4-2 early in the third when Alex Tuch scored 24 seconds after the bad blood between Vegas and San Jose led to a spirited fight between Vegas’ Ryan Reaves and San Jose’s Kurtis Gabriel.

The Sharks carried a grudge coming into the game after Jonathan Marchessault injured defenseman Radim Simek with a couple of hard hits in the first meeting of the season last month.

There was some expected chippiness that eventually led to the fight at the opening faceoff of the third period with Reaves getting the best shot in late in the tussle. Reaves left the game later in the third with an apparent leg injury.

The Golden Knights delivered another blow on the shift following the fight when Tuch scored on a one-timer to make it 4-2 with his sixth goal in the past six games.

But San Jose rallied to tie it and earn a point.

“I thought the energy from the rest of the third period was in our favor,” captain Logan Couture said. “We played hard. Unfortunately we didn’t get two (points), but happy we got one.”

Reilly Smith and Chandler Stephenson also scored for Vegas. Dansk made 25 saves in his first start since 2019 and earned his first win since Oct. 27, 2017.

Brent Burns, Matt Nieto and Couture also scored for the Sharks, who have dropped four of five to start their seven-game homestand. Martin Jones allowed three goals on eight shots before getting pulled early in the second. Dubnyk stopped 17 of 19 shots in relief but took the loss.

DELAYED REACTION

The Sharks got on the board in the second period thanks to a replay review on a power play. Burns’ point shot hit the post and then went into the net before bouncing directly out. The official on the ice didn’t notice and play continued for 24 seconds until the horn blew with the replay center in Toronto calling for a replay. The officials took a look and ruled it a good goal to cut Vegas’ lead to 3-1 and they put the 24 seconds back onto the clock.

FAST START

The Golden Knights scored twice in a 75-second span of the first period to take the lead. The Sharks left Smith alone at the side of the net on the first goal and William Karlsson slid a pass to him through the crease to make it 1-0.

Stephenson added to that lead a little over a minute later off a nice setup from Mark Stone, who has 20 assists in 20 games this season.

COVID-19 UPDATE

Sharks forward Marcus Sorensen was placed on the COVID-19 list before the game. Sorensen had taken part in practice on Thursday but was added to the list shortly before faceoff. He’s the second San Jose player currently on the list with forward Tomas Hertl going on it Feb. 24.

UP NEXT

The teams wrap up the back-to-back set on Saturday night in San Jose.

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