LAS VEGAS — Max Pacioretty scored twice and Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 33 shots to earn his league-leading fifth shutout of the season as the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the San Jose Sharks 6-0 Saturday night.
It was the second shutout in as many nights for Fleury and marked the first time the 15-year veteran recorded back-to-back shutouts since the 2014-15 season, when he blanked Calgary (Feb. 4) and Edmonton (Feb. 6). On Friday, Fleury stopped 29 shots against Calgary.
The Sharks came into the game having scored 75 goals this season, tied for sixth in the league. But San Jose couldn’t find the back of the net.
It was the 53rd shutout of Fleury’s career, and moved him into a tie for 23rd all-time with Nashville’s Pekka Rinne.
William Karlsson, Colin Miller, William Carrier and Alex Tuch also scored for Vegas.
Vegas was 3-0-1 against the Sharks last season, and eliminated them from the second round of the playoffs.
Aaron Dell, who registered shutouts in his previous two starts, made 30 saves in the loss.
Karlsson got the Golden Knights on the board moments after the puck drop, scoring the fastest goal in franchise history, just 14 seconds into the game. Miller, who also had an assist, ripped a slap shot from the circle to make it 2-0 shortly thereafter.
Pacioretty, who has at least one point in four of his last five games, scored the team’s next two goals as he took a pass from Reilly Smith and one-timed it to the net midway through the period and later punched home a loose puck after Dell poke-checked the puck from Tuch.
The four goals in the first period were the most in any period by the Golden Knights this season.
Carrier, who leads the league with 122 hits, got the lone goal in the second period when he backhanded the puck just under Dell’s pads to make it 5-0.
Tuch continued his impressive season with his seventh goal of the season in the third period.
NOTES: Vegas is 4-1-0 since Nate Schmidt returned from a 20-game suspension. … Vegas D Nick Holden is one game shy of his 400th career game. … With his two assists, Reilly Smith is riding a five-game point streak (1 goal, 7 assists). … San Jose is now 1-5-0 when its opponents score first. … The Sharks are outshooting opponents 842-686 and have outshot their opponent in 18 of 24 games.
UP NEXT
Sharks: Continue a five-game road trip in Buffalo on Tuesday.
Golden Knights: Visit Chicago on Tuesday.
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W.G. Ramirez, The Associated Press
