After being shutout in Game 4 on the road, the Golden Knights responded with a big win in front of the rowdy Knights faithful Friday night, winning 5-3 and taking a 3-2 series lead.
Vegas got off to a strong start when with just three seconds left in the first period as James Neal put a rebound of a Shea Theodore shot past Sharks keeper Martin Jones for a 1-0 lead.
That start for the @GoldenKnights was The Real Deal. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/tCYfX6voKD
— NHL (@NHL) May 5, 2018
Vegas continued to create chances in the second period, and when a penalty on San Jose gave then a man advantage, the Golden Knights capitalized. At the 15:08 mark in period, Alex Tuch found the back of the net for a 2-0 Vegas advantage.
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) May 5, 2018
Erik Haula increased the Golden Knights lead to 3-0 at the 11:01 point of the second period, scoring from a ridiculous angle.
Angles? Not needed for @EHaula. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/6rXv4TxrGH
— NHL (@NHL) May 5, 2018
Alex Tuch added his second goal of the game at the 11:24 mark in the third period, giving Vegas a 4-0 lead.
GOAL!!! Alex Tuch makes it 4-0!! pic.twitter.com/TfeHbInJip
— Ryan Quigley (@RP_Quigs) May 5, 2018
It seemed at that point that Vegas would cruise to a win on home ice with a four-goal advantage, but the Sharks weren’t giving up. Kevin Lebanc scored on a power play just one minute after Tuch’s second goal, putting San Jose on the board.
Just 2:09 later, Tomas Hertl scored, making it 4-2. A few minutes later it was 4-3 after the Sharks scored again. There was a nervousness throughout T-Mobile Arena as San Jose had scored three goals in a 6:09 span to get back into the game.
In an attempt to tie the game, the Sharks pulled their goalie in favor of a sixth attacker with 2:30 to go in the game. After a few chances for San Jose, a deflection found the stick of the Golden Knights’ Jonathan Marchessault, who fired a shot halfway across the ice for a goal on an empty net, giving Vegas a 5-3 lead with 1:21 remaining.
GOAL!!!! Marchessault scores the empty-netter! pic.twitter.com/Rw9ahaEUC6
— Ryan Quigley (@RP_Quigs) May 5, 2018
With the win, Vegas moves just one win away from a trip to the Western Conference finals in it’s first season. They can eliminate San Jose on the road on Sunday. If not, there will be a Game 7 in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
Game 6 is set for 5:30 p.m. MT on Sunday at the Shark Tank and will be televised on NBC Sports Network.
