LAS VEGAS _ The goalie controversy in San Jose was over in less than 10 minutes.
After Aaron Dell pitched shutouts in back-to-back starts, Sharks coach Pete DeBoer called his number for a second straight night in Las Vegas Saturday, fueling talk of a goalie controversy as Martin Jones continues to struggle with an .891 save percentage in 16 appearances. But the Vegas Golden Knights knocked Dell off his game early, scoring four goals on their first 11 shots en route to a 6-0 win.
William Karlsson ended Dell's shutout streak at 127:53, scoring the fastest goal in Golden Knights history just 14 seconds into the game. After Dell stopped Brayden McNabb's point shot with his blocker, the puck bounced off Karlsson's right leg and trickled into the net through his legs.
Colin Miller scored two shots later, beating Dell to the near post on a 23-foot shot at 4:40 of the opening frame. Then, Max Pacioretty scored at 9:29 on the power play and again at 16:29, sending the Sharks into the first intermission in a 4-0 hole. The first-period blowout triggered flashbacks of last spring when the Golden Knights beat the Sharks 7-0 in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series by scoring four first period goals.
As has been the case throughout the season, the Sharks goalie got hung out to dry by his defense on a number of occasions. Erik Karlsson failed to contest Pacioretty's shot from the slot on the Golden Knights third goal, giving him an open look that should have been blocked. On Pacioretty's second goal, Erik Karlsson and Brenden Dillon allowed Alex Tuch to dance between them on his way to the net, setting up an easy second-chance goal.
William Carrier scored the fifth goal in the second off a breakaway after both Dillon and Erik Karlsson got caught up ice. Then, Alex Tuch scored on a wide-open look in the third after Justin Braun turned the puck over and Marc-Edouard Vlasic skated away from the play.
Dell finished the game with 30 saves on 36 shots, making a handful of remarkable stops in garbage time.
Tensions finally boiled over at 15:41 of the second when Evander Kane received a game misconduct penalty for abuse of officials. Kane got tossed for arguing with the referees about a tripping call where he stuck out his leg on a hit against Tomas Nosek. Fifty three seconds later, DeBoer got ejected, as well.
The Sharks will return to action Tuesday when they square off against the Buffalo Sabres in the second game of their five game road trip.
