Both the San Jose Sharks and the Vegas Golden Knights came into Game 1 with a perfect 4-0 record.

With both teams coming off an extended break many expected a fast-paced evenly matched game to start the series.

But things turned out very differently.

The Knights looked like they used the break to add an extra gear, meanwhile, the Sharks looked like they were trying to shake off the rust accumulated from an extended vacation.

Vegas came out on fire

The Vegas Golden Knights came out flying and got off to a remarkable start.

Cody Eakin opened the scoring just 4:31 into the game and Erik Haula scored just 26 seconds later. But they didn't stop there as Jonathan Marchessault and Alex Tuch added two more goals to give the home team a 4-0 lead by the 11:43 mark.



Vegas was all over the Sharks early on, and despite allowing four goals on seven shots, San Jose interestingly elected to keep Martin Jones in the game to let him figure things out.

San Jose slowly got themselves back in the period but they didn't have anything to show for it on the scoreboard. They surprisingly ended up outshooting the Knights 17-9 in the first but Marc Andre-Fleury was spectacular for the entire period.

Vegas continued strong play

Vegas came into the second period looking like they were down 4-0. They looked like the hungrier team and did not take their foot off the gas pedal.

They struck again at the 3:28 mark, with a nice tip-in goal by Shea Theodore and that, was the end of the night for Martin Jones.



The Golden Knights played another flawless period in the second and kept the Sharks on their heels with their relentless forecheck and speed in transition.

The Golden Knights won the period 1-0 and also managed to outshoot the Sharks 15-8 in the period.

Final stanza

The Sharks looked frustrated early on in third and tempers started to flare and Evander Kane erupted with a nasty cross-check on Pierre-Édouard Bellemare.

Kane was ejected out of the game with a five-minute major and Vegas made the Sharks pay once again on the powerplay with Colin Miller cashing in with a beautiful slapshot on the powerplay.

The Golden Knights didn't stay quiet the rest of the way as James Neal put another one pass play to Aaron Dell later in the power play to extend his team's lead to seven.

It was pretty much over by then and San Jose did little to respond after that.

Overall play

It is still early but the Vegas Golden Knights looked very dominant in Game 1 and added another remarkable chapter to their amazing season.

It wasn't even close!

The shots were almost even (34-33 Knights) but Fleury had a very solid night in net to earn his second consecutive shutout, with an amazing 0.54 goals against average in the 2018 playoffs. His .982 save percentage is spectacular as well.



It just wasn't the Sharks night, they were stunned by the Golden Knights' early barrage and couldn't capitalize on any of their five power plays in the evening.

Vegas looked a step faster, controlled the puck all night and never gave the Sharks a chance to come back at any point in the game.

San Jose will need to come up with a better game plan heading into Game 2. Otherwise, this series might end quicker than most expected.

Do you think the Golden Knights can sweep the San Jose Sharks in Round Two? Let us know in the comment section below.