William Karlsson and the expansion Vegas Golden Knights proved they can handle some adversity just as well as they can thrive as front-runners like they did most of their inaugural season.
The Golden Knights bounced back after allowing a late tying goal in regulation when Karlsson scored 8 minutes, 17 seconds into overtime to lead Vegas to a 4-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Monday night and a 2-1 series lead.
“I think it’s good for the morale,” Karlsson said. “We showed great attitude. Again, they came back. It was tough, too, but we gave someone a chance to be an overtime hero.”
Photo: AP
Karlsson was that hero — just as he has been so much this season. He scored 43 goals in the regular season and has added three more this series, but none was bigger than the wrist shot in transition that beat Martin Jones high to the stick side, sending the Golden Knights into a wild celebration around the player knows as “Wild Bill.”
It was an impressive bounce back from their first loss of the playoffs in double overtime at home in Game 2 and would not have been possible without Marc-Andre Fleury, who made 39 saves to hold off an early push by the Sharks and then robbed Logan Couture with a glove save in overtime.
“I was looking at the guy with puck. I just tried to follow the pass and get out there a bit and I had a little time to react on it,” Fleury said. “It was a good feeling.”
The Sharks rallied to tie the game and force a second straight overtime with two goals in the third period. Evander Kane scored just seconds after the end of a power play midway through the third to set the stage for Hertl.
Hertl drove to the net with a strong power move. With the Sharks swarming in front of Fleury, Hertl whacked at a loose puck and knocked it in for the equalizer with 1 minutes, 57 seconds to go, sending the towel-waving crowd into a frenzy.
“I believe our game’s there and I think everyone in here would tell you that,” captain Joe Pavelski said. “We got caught on the wrong end of it tonight. We had a big one the other night.”
Colin Miller, Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith scored in a span of less than five minutes in the second period to put the Golden Knights in control, but they could not hold onto the lead.
Timo Meier opened the scoring with a power-play goal for the Sharks, but undisciplined play in the second period helped erase that lead and put San Jose in a hole.
Brenden Dillon held David Perron to give Vegas a power play less than one minute after Meier’s one-timer off a perfect cross-ice pass from Chris Tierney gave the San Jose Sharks the lead.
San Jose had an 11-1 edge in shots on goal in the period at that point, as the Sharks were controlling the play.
However, that quickly turned as James Neal held the puck below the goal line and fed Miller with a pass that Marc-Edouard Vlasic nearly broke up for a tap-in that tied the game.
About three minutes later, Hertl was called for roughing Neal well behind the play, giving the Golden Knights another chance with the man advantage.
They converted again when Marchessault one-timed a cross-ice pass from Alex Tuch past Jones to give Vegas the lead.
Smith then capped the three goals in 4 minutes, 46 seconds when Marchessault fed Karlsson, who was left alone at the side of the net. He deftly sent a blind, backhand pass through the crease to Smith, who tapped it in for the 3-1 lead.
“He’s got eyes in the back of his head sometimes,” Smith said. “He’s a great player and he makes great plays.”
San Jose got 16 shots on goal in the first period, but were unable to get anything past Fleury, who rebounded well from his first loss of the post-season.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB