Golden Knights shut out Sharks, maintain lead for first in West, NHL

The Vegas Golden Knights maintained their lead in the Honda West Division and NHL standings with a 6-0 win against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose on Wednesday.

It was the final game of the regular season for the Golden Knights, who lead the Colorado Avalanche by two points for first place in the eight-team West. The Avalanche would win the division and the Presidents' Trophy for most points in the NHL if they defeat the Los Angeles Kings at home Thursday; Colorado won 6-0 against Los Angeles on Wednesday.
"Hopefully we get a little lucky and have a big game from L.A., and finish first," Vegas forward Jonathan Marchessault said. "If not, I thought our regular season was good overall. Despite who we face in the first round, I think our team is ready come playoffs here."
Dylan Sikura had his first two-goal game in the NHL for the Golden Knights (40-14-2), who were 8-0-0 against the Sharks this season.

Marc-Andre Fleury made 19 saves for his ninth consecutive win. It was his 67th shutout to tie Roy Worters for 14th in NHL history.
Fleury and Robin Lehner won the William M. Jennings Trophy because the Golden Knights allowed an NHL-low 124 goals this season, four fewer than the New York Islanders. Lehner won the award with the Islanders in 2018-19.
"For me, hands down, the best goalie tandem in the League," Vegas coach Peter DeBoer said. "I'd like to think that trophy, and I'm sure they would say this, is also a team defense trophy, and I think they got some good help from our commitment to defending. Those two were outstanding every night for us."
Alexei Melnichuk made 38 saves for the Sharks (21-28-7), who lost three straight games to end the season. San Jose failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a second straight season.
"Our dressing room is a better room than it was in training camp," Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. "This is just a good learning experience for everyone. If I could take anything from this, and I just told this to the guys, I think we all have to learn to remember this feeling. This organization had to take a step back in order to take a step forward."
Alex Pietrangelo gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 3:52 of the first period when he scored with a backhand off a pass from Reilly Smith. It was the defenseman's second straight game with a goal.
Keegan Kolesar made it 2-0 at 7:48 off a rebound in the crease.
"In a type of game like that, you want to get the will out of the opponent as fast as you can, and we did," Marchessault said. "We played well, structured everywhere in all three zones. Honestly it was a good start to the game for us."

William Carrier gave Vegas a 3-0 lead at 3:05 of the second period, and Marchessault made it 4-0 at 7:04.
Sikura scored at 4:10 of the third period to make it 5-0 and at 12:16 for the 6-0 final.
"We talked about wanting to put the two points on the board and make [Colorado] win their games and also just to get 40 wins and 82 points, and have that out there in case we play someone else as we go through the playoff trail," DeBoer said. "It was an important night and a little bit of a trap game, but I thought we came in and got the job done like we have a lot of nights this year."
NOTES: The Minnesota Wild (No. 3 seed) and St. Louis Blues (No. 4) are the other playoff teams from the West. … Sikura had scored one NHL goal entering Wednesday (Jan. 5, 2020, against the Detroit Red Wings). … Pietrangelo has scored three goals in his past five games and nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past 10. … Vegas forward Alex Tuch did not play in the third period for what DeBoer said was maintenance because of "a little tweak." … Sharks forward Patrick Marleau played his 1,779th game, extending his NHL record. He has played 910 consecutive games, the fourth-longest streak in NHL history.