Vegas Golden Knights vs San Jose Sharks Match Player Stats On Dec 22, 2019

Malcolm Subban finished with 37 saves and Shea Theodore scored what proved to be the game-winning goal midway through the third period as the visiting Vegas Golden Knights skated to a 3-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Sunday night.

Jonathan Marchessault and Paul Stastny also scored goals for Vegas, which extended its point streak to five games while also improving to 9-2-2 over its last 13. William Karlsson added two assists for the Golden Knights, who are tied with Arizona for first place in the Pacific Division.

Logan Couture scored for San Jose, which lost for the ninth time in its last 10 games (1-8-1). Aaron Dell finished with 34 saves for the Sharks.

Neither team scored in a tight-checking first period but Vegas, trying to rebound from a 5-4 overtime loss at Vancouver on Thursday, twice came close, both on shots by defenseman Nicolas Hague.

First, Hague hit the crossbar, and then he hit a double-post when his shot from the right circle caromed off the right post across to the left post and then into the crease, where Dell covered it up.

Stastny finally gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead late in the second period when he roofed an Alex Tuch pass from the left circle over Dell's right shoulder for his first goal in 12 games and ninth of the season. The primary assist was the 100th point of Tuch's career.

The Sharks tied it early in the third period on Couture's 12th goal of the season. The score was set up by Brent Burns, who carried the puck around behind the net and then whipped a cross-crease pass to Couture. Couture then snapped a shot past Subban from the right side of the goal.

Theodore then put the Golden Knights ahead 2-1 with 11:55 to play in the game when he fired a left-handed wrist shot from near the right face-off dot over Dell's right shoulder for his fifth goal of the season.

Marchessault made it 3-1 with 3:25 to go when Reilly Smith blew past Erik Karlsson at the blue line and then passed to Marchessault rushing into the slot, where he drilled a shot past Dell's glove side.

--Field Level Media