LAS VEGAS _ The San Jose Sharks found out right from the start Thursday that the playoff version of the Vegas Golden Knights are a carbon copy of the regular season team.
Fast, opportunistic, relentless.
And that was just in the opening 12 minutes of the first period.
The Sharks were overwhelmed by the Golden Knights in Game 1 of their second-round playoff series, falling victim to Vegas' speed and their own careless mistakes in a 7-0 drubbing for their worst postseason loss in more than two decades.
The carnage started early.
The Sharks gave up a Cody Eakin goal 4:31 into the first period and one to Erik Haula just 26 seconds later as Vegas took a 2-0 lead. Jonathan Marchessault added another even strength goal at the 6:02 mark of the first, beating goalie Martin Jones low to the glove side just seconds after the Sharks lost control of the puck in the neutral zone.
As remarkable as it sounds, the knockout blow in the series opener came with 8:17 left in the first period. Alex Tuch sped into the Sharks' defensive zone past Melker Karlsson and Brenden Dillon and fired a shot that beat Jones high to the glove side for a power play goal.
Jones had allowed four goals in four games to the Anaheim Ducks in the first round, and it took less than half a period for that total to be matched by the Golden Knights.
No, the Sharks aren't in Orange County anymore.
Jones made just eight saves before he was pulled in favor of backup goalie Aaron Dell at the 3:28 mark of the second period when Shea Theodore scored his second goal of the playoffs to make it 5-0 for the Golden Knights.
Colin Miller and James Neal added third period goals for Vegas, as the Sharks lost a playoff game by seven goals for just the second time in franchise history. They lost 9-2 to Calgary in the first round of the 1995 playoffs.
The Sharks had chances before the first period ended to at least dent the Golden Knights' lead. But Jones' counterpart, Marc-Andre Fleury, made 17 saves in the opening frame, including 10 on the power play.
The Sharks went empty-handed on four power play tries in the first two periods when they took six minor penalties of their own. The biggest one, though, happened early in the third period when Evander Kane was given a five-minute major and a game misconduct for cross-checking Pierre-Edouard Bellemare in the face.
The infraction, coming at the 3:25 mark of the third period, will almost certainly get a second look from the NHL's Department of Player Safety.
The Sharks had seven days between games since they knocked out the Ducks on April 18 in a four-game sweep. Since then the Sharks have tried to strike a balance between resting for the second round and staying fresh.
The Sharks practiced last Friday, took Saturday off and practiced again Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, all in an effort to try and replicate what they might have experienced had their series with the Ducks had gone longer than four games.
With the Golden Knights coming off a similar type of break, having wrapped up a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Kings on April 17, Sharks coach Pete DeBoer didn't quite know how sharp both teams would be in the first few minutes of the first period.
"It's hard as a player. You try and mimic game speed in practice and game situations," DeBoer said Thursday morning. "Everybody's got a different plan. We tried to stay in the rhythm of playing every night in our practices, but it's not the same as a game.
"I think in these situations, usually the smarter team has an advantage, the team that doesn't try to do too much, that recognizes the situation. Hopefully that'll be us."
Both the Sharks and Golden Knights received stellar performances from their goaltenders in the first round, with Jones allowing just four goals total and two at even strength for a .970 save percentage. Fleury _ with three Stanley Cups to his credit _ was perhaps even more impressive, with just three goals allowed against the Kings and a ,977 save percentage.
Still, everyone expected the Sharks and Ducks to play a tight, low-scoring series given their regular season history, and the Sharks put up 16 goals.
"I think the two best players in this series, as least for me coming in after the first round," DeBoer said, "are the two goalies."
Despite the mid-90s heat, an amped-up crowd began to assemble outside of T-Mobile Arena more than two hours before the start of the first period. The scene carried into the arena as the game neared, and built into a crescendo just before the first puck drop.
DeBoer said of the expected atmosphere, "It's awesome. I know our guys are excited to be here. Guys want to play in that environment, even if its hostile. That's the beauty of playoff hockey."
