SAN JOSE, Calif. – The Sharks ended their regular season knowing exactly how wide the gulf is between themselves and the potential winners of the West Division this season, the Vegas Golden Knights.
Right now, it’s enormous.
The Sharks were no match for the Golden Knights on Wednesday, allowing two goals in both the first and second periods in what became a 6-0 season-ending loss before an announced crowd of 1,654 at SAP Center.
In what could have been the last game in a Sharks uniform for both forward Patrick Marleau and defenseman Brent Burns, the Sharks allowed goals by Alex Pietrangelo and Keegan Kolesar in the first period and William Carrier and Jonathan Marchessault in the second.
Sharks rookie goalie Alexei Melnichuk, who was making his second career NHL start, was peppered with 35 shots in the first 40 minutes. The Sharks managed 13 shots on Vegas goalie Marc-Andre Fleury in the first two periods.
Dylan Sikura scored twice in the third period for the Golden Knights, who maintained their two-point lead over the Colorado Avalanche for first place in the West Division and the overall lead in the NHL standings.
The Golden Knights finished the regular season with a 40-14-2 record. Colorado is now 38-13-4 after its win over Los Angeles on Wednesday and needs a victory over the Kings on Thursday to overtake Vegas for first place. Whichever team wins the division will also have home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
The Sharks went 0-6-2 against the Golden Knights this season, the first time they’ve gone winless against a divisional opponent since 2002-03. That season the Sharks went 0-5-0 against the Dallas Stars as both teams were in the Pacific Division. The Sharks finished fifth and last, and the Stars were the runaway winners.
The Sharks will finish in seventh place in the West Division.
The Sharks dressed four rookies Wednesday – Melnichuk, forwards Sasha Chmelevski and Ivan Chekhovich and defenseman Brinson Pasichnuk.
The Sharks were without captain Logan Couture, who missed the last three games of the regular season with a lower body injury.
Marleau filled in for Couture as he centered the Sharks’ second line with Timo Meier and Kevin Labanc in his 1,779th career NHL game. He came into Wednesday with nine points in 55 games, as he played his 910th consecutive game.
Marleau, who played in his 1,768th career NHL game on April 19, passing Gordie Howe to become the league’s all-time leader games played, is set to become a free agent this summer.
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Burns, 36, still has four years remaining on his contract, but he could be exposed by the Sharks in July’s expansion draft in which the Seattle Kraken will get to select one unprotected player from each NHL team’s roster.
The Sharks and other NHL teams can either protect seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie, or eight skaters and one goalie. All teams have until July 17 to submit their protection lists.
