Smith, Celebrini have milestone games, but Sharks’ comeback in Vegas falls short

SAN JOSE Will Smith scored twice in his th NHL meeting and Macklin Celebrini reached points for his career but the San Jose Sharks allowed four straight goals including three in a span of seven minutes in the second period and never fully recovered in a - loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena After Smith and Golden Knights center Tomas Hertl traded goals in the first period the Sharks allowed goals by forwards Mitch Marner and Colton Sissons apart to fall behind - Vegas then took a - lead at the mark of the second period as Hertl redirected a shot from Marner on the power play past Sharks goalie Alex Nedeljkovic Smith s second goal came just after Hertl scored again and off an assist from Celebrini as the Sharks cut the Golden Knights lead to - William Eklund then scored his seventh of the season and his second in as various days on a breakaway with seconds left before the second intermission But the Sharks were unable to get the equalizer losing to the Golden Knights for the second time this season Nedeljkovic improved as the contest went on but allowed four goals on shots through two periods and finished with saves as the Sharks ended an otherwise impressive month of November with a - - record In his first NHL games Smith the fourth overall pick in the NHL Draft had points fourth-most in Sharks history trailing only Celebrini points in games Pat Falloon points and Sandis Ozolinsh points Celebrini now has assists this season and in his career as he became the first athlete in Sharks history by a mile to record points in less than career NHL games Other players to expeditiously reach points at the start of their NHL careers with the Sharks were Ozolinsh games Falloon Logan Couture Eklund and Ray Whitney The Sharks entered Saturday in a tie with the Utah Mammoth for the second and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with points each A win in regulation time on Saturday would have allowed the Sharks to leapfrog the Golden Knights and move into a tie for second place in the Pacific Division Indeed the Sharks remembered their Oct season opener against the Golden Knights in San Jose In that competition a pair of puck-handling blunders by Nedeljkovic led to a - Golden Knights win in overtime An seemingly innocuous dump-in by Jack Eichel took an odd bounce and skidded past Nedeljkovic to tie it at - with to play in the third period Then in overtime Nedeljkovic came far out of his net to play a loose puck only to have it deflect right to Reilly Smith who scored the winner on an empty-net We haven t forgotten the first championship Graf revealed on Friday after the Sharks beat the Vancouver Canucks - So we ll be ready to go