Dansk wins season debut, helps Golden Knights defeat Sharks in OT

Oscar Dansk
made 25 saves to win his first game for the Vegas Golden Knights since 2017, 5-4 in overtime against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center in San Jose on Friday.

Dansk, making his season debut, got his first victory since Oct. 27, 2017, when he had his only NHL shutout in a 7-0 win against the Colorado Avalanche. Marc-Andre Fleury started the previous 10 games for Vegas.
"Going into this game, I know it's been a while since I've played in this league," said Dansk, whose last NHL start was Oct. 21, 2019, a 6-2 loss at the Philadelphia Flyers. "I don't expect it to be a perfect game. It rarely is."
Max Pacioretty scored at 1:25, his League-leading third OT goal of the season, when he received a backhand pass from Alex Pietrangelo and scored on a one-timer from the right circle.
Pacioretty had two goals and an assist, and Mark Stone had two assists for Vegas (15-4-1), which has won five straight.
"Oscar's a guy who a lot has been asked of him," Pacioretty said. "He's one of the most upbeat guys in the room and in practice, working hard. It's real nice to see him get the win. Guys like that, you want to win for."

Logan Couture, Brent Burns and Matt Nieto scored for San Jose (8-10-3), which has lost four of five. Martin Jones was pulled 2:16 into the second period after allowing three goals on eight shots. Devan Dubnyk made 17 saves in relief.
Sharks forward Kevin Labanc tied it 4-4 with 1:07 remaining in the third period after Dansk misplayed the puck with his stick.
"Tonight's a team that put their heads down, worked hard, battled through adversity … and just kept fighting," Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. "We found a way to get a point and, in the midst of all that, I thought we stuck together and played a real hard game."
Reilly Smith scored his first goal since Feb. 7 at 5:48 of the first period to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead.
Chandler Stephenson scored for the second consecutive game, 1:15 later, to make it 2-0.
Pacioretty scored his first goal on the road this season at 2:57 of the second period to increase the lead to 3-0.
"They're a team where they don't need a lot of chances, but that's the best team in the West," Boughner said. "We battled them toe-to-toe."
Burns scored on the power play at 6:01 of the second period to make it 3-1 with a shot over Dansk's shoulder. Play continued until the NHL Situation Room alerted off-ice officials that Burns' shot crossed the goal line. The clock was reset from 6:25.
Nieto cut it to 3-2 at 12:43, scoring stick side on a 2-on-1.
Alex Tuch scored 26 seconds into the third period, his sixth goal in six games, to make it 4-2 before Couture made it 4-3 at 6:23.
"I was proud of how we played. I thought we battled," Couture said. "Everyone I thought played well, we played hard. Unfortunately, we didn't get two (points), but happy we were able to get one."

It was Pacioretty's second overtime goal in three games; he scored the winner in a 5-4 victory against the Minnesota Wild at T-Mobile Arena on Monday.
"You've got to have the mindset that you're trying to attack them at 3-on-3," Pacioretty said. "I've had a lot of looks like that as of late, and I've gotten a lot of wood on them and they haven't gone in. I kind of fanned on that one, and that one ends up going in. It's the way the game goes, I guess."
NOTES:Vegas forward Ryan Reaves left at 12:01 of the third period with a lower-body injury. Golden Knights coach Peter DeBoer said he doesn't believe it's serious. Reaves fought Kurtis Gabriel at start of third period, then appeared to get hit by skate blade in the groin area just prior to leaving the game. … Stone has 26 points (five goals, 21 assists) in 20 games, the fewest games by a Vegas player to 20 assists in a season (David Perron, 27 games, 2017-18). … The Golden Knights have 31 points in 20 games, the fewest amount of games to 30 points since their inaugural season in 2017-18 (22 games). … Sharks forward Marcus Sorensen was added to the COVID-19 Protocol Related Absences list prior to the game.