Oldtime VGK Hockey: Knights Defeat San Jose In A Close One, 2-1, In Final Minute Thursday; Attendance, 17,544

February 16, 2023February 17, 2023 Alan Snel Adin Hill, Alexander Barabanov, Bruce Cassidy, Kaapo Kahkonen, Logan Couture, Martin Jones, Timo Meier, Tomas Hertl, William Carrier, William Karlsson

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Story by Alan Snel Photos by J. Tyge O’Donnell

Well, the NHL Knights are in a whole new era, we’re told. Season VI is the Golden Era. (With Las Vegas Hosting Super Bowl LVIII, I’m in a Roman numeral mood.)

I suppose six years — the VGK age — represent a new era in Las Vegas years, where entertainment ideas come and go.

No wonder there’s a feeling of nostalgia washing over me as I watch the San Jose Sharks warming up to play the Golden Knights tonight.

The Golden Knights vanquished the San Jose club in the NHL playoffs’ second round in 2018, with VGK center William Karlsson’s dazzling between-the-legs, short-handed, game-winning goal against former Sharks goalie Martin Jones serving as the headliner for that VGK postseason series win over San Jose.

And I still remember a thoroughly-dejected Knights owner Bill Foley the following year in 2019 meeting the media and voicing his displeasure for the five-minute major penalty against former VGKer Cody Eakin that led to four straight Sharks goals during that penalty. San Jose won that Game 7 in OT and the Knights season ended in the first round one year after the inaugural season’s miracle run to the Stanley Cup Final.

The Sharks’ have some old names from those good ol’ days like Timo Meier (31 goals this season), Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture on the line sheet tonight as the Golden Knights came to play with three consecutive wins. The Knights have scored 17 goals in those three games, with 11 VGK players notching the 17 scores.

The two teams are separated by 23 points (Knights, 68 points, and San Jose, 45) and the Sharks will not make the playoffs at this pace. Attendance came in at 17,544 — about 450 less than the Knights’ average of about 18,000.

The Golden Knights dominated San Jose in the first period, but failed to convert a bunch of scoring chances.

There were more jumbotron requests for “more noise” than San Jose shots on goal this first period against Vegas at the Big Ice House by the Strip. VGK outshot, SJS, 14-4, but it’s scoreless after one.

The Knights had a slow start to period two. In fact, the VGK didn’t register a shot on goal until there was 8:45 left in the middle stanza.

Vegas was zero for three on the power play in the first period and failed with the man advantage in the second period, too. In fact, VGK was 0 for the game with a man advantage.

San Jose took a 1-0 lead into the second intermission when the Sharks’ Alexander Barabanov flipped the puck past VGK goalie Adin Hill on a short goal after he picked up a rebound right before his shot.

The Knights tied the game when Paul “Welcome Back” Cotter snapped a wrister past Sharks goalie Kaapo Kahkonen and it was 1-1 midway through the third period.