The San Jose Sharks played the Las Vegas Golden Knights in their first home game back in the Shark Tank since March 8, 2020. 

The team lost 3-1 against the Knights on Saturday, who are the leading team in the Western NHL Conference.

This is the first time this season the Sharks have played against the Knights after the game was postponed two times prior, once on Feb. 1 and again Feb. 3. 

The starting lineup for the Sharks included Martin Jones, Dylan Gambrell, Marc-Édouard Vlasic, Marcus Sörensen, Nikolai Knyzhov and Kurtis Gabriel. 

The starting lineup for the Knights included William Carrier, Nicolas Roy, Ryan Reaves, Alec Martinez, Alex Pietrangelo and Marc-André Fleury.

The first period started with the Knights winning the puck drop in a neutral zone. 

Sharks’ winger Kevin Labanc almost scored the game’s first point, but it was saved by Knights’ goaltender, Fleury. 

The first two minute penalty was given to Knights player Zach Whitecloud for delay of game three minutes into the game. 

The first point of the game was scored from a power play by Knights’ left wing Jonathan Marchessault and followed by an assist by Chandler Stephenson and Alec Martinez. 

The puck bounced around and over the shoulder of Sharks’ goalie Martin Jones who was unable to make the block.

Shortly after, Las Vegas’ right wing, Reaves, attempted to score a goal but was blocked by San Jose’s centerman Gambrell. 

Seconds later, Reaves and Sharks’ right wing Kane were penalized for two minutes. Reaves received a penalty for slashing Kane, while Kane was penalized for interference.

The Knights made the second goal of the game off another power play by right wing Mark Stone, who was assisted by Cody Glass and William Karlsson. 

The Sharks managed to score their first and only goal for the night towards the end of the second period. 

San Jose centerman Tomas Hertl was assisted by Rūdolfs Balcers and Marc-Édouard Vlasic to get past the Knights’ defense. 

Hertl has been a strong offensive weapon for the Sharks this season, having scored two goals in the team’s previous game against the Los Angeles Kings. 

The final goal of the night came during the third period from Knights’ centerman Chandler Stephenson with a clean assist by Alex Tuch and Alec Martinez. 

Sharks defenseman Radim Šimek was injured from two brutal hits during the second period. 

Both hits were by Marchessault, one was a regular hit and the other was a cross-check which finally took him out. 

The Sharks felt his loss defensively for the remainder of the game.

In a post-game interview, Sharks head coach Bob Boughner said he believes that with five on five they did well and the team needs to produce more offense.

“You have to depend on your power play at crucial times of the game to create offense for it,” Boughner said in the interview. “I thought our power plays looked okay in the last couple of games and we produced chances but we gotta pounce on teams.”