Golden Knights hold off Sharks in Game 5, take lead in series

LAS VEGAS -- The Vegas Golden Knights hung on to defeat the San Jose Sharks 5-3 in Game 5 of the Western Conference Second Round at T-Mobile Arena on Friday.
Vegas leads the best-of-7 series 3-2. Game 6 is at San Jose on Sunday.

The Golden Knights took a 4-0 lead on Alex Tuch's second goal of the game at 8:36 of the third period before allowing three straight goals.
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Jonathan Marchessault scored into an empty net at 18:39 to make it 5-3.
"We were physical, we played hard," Tuch said. "It was a good game for everyone."
Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves for his 69th Stanley Cup Playoff victory, surpassing Andy Moog for 10th all-time.
Vegas coach Gerard Gallant made several lineup changes after a 4-0 loss in Game 4 in San Jose on Wednesday. He dropped Tuch to the third line with Cody Eakin and Oscar Lindberg, who made his 2018 playoff debut, and moved David Perron back up to the second line with Erik Haula and James Neal.

"I think we turned the page pretty well," said Perron, who had two assists. "We haven't gone on a losing streak too much. Having said that, it's not going to be easy next game. We're going to have to provide our best effort.
"It was good to win in front of our crowd, knowing that for sure we're going to get another crack at it no matter what. At the same time, we've got to try and find a way to close it next game."
Lindberg was in the lineup in favor of Tomas Tatar, and Ryan Carpenter replaced Tomas Nosek on the fourth line. Defenseman Luca Sbisa (upper-body injury) played for the first time since Feb. 27 in place of Jon Merrill.
"Just some hungry guys that were ready to play," Gallant said. "I thought all of them performed really well."
Sharks goaltender Martin Jones, who made 34 saves in Game 4, allowed four goals on 31 shots and was relieved by Aaron Dell, who made seven saves in 10:12.
"It's not over yet," Sharks forward Tomas Hertl said. "We've got a home game now. We have to take it and start right away, and I believe we'll come back for Game 7."

Neal gave Vegas a 1-0 lead with three seconds left in the first period. Defenseman Shea Theodore's shot from the left point was blocked by San Jose's Logan Couture, and Neal scored when the puck bounced to him in the right face-off circle.
Tuch scored on the power play at 4:52 of the second period to make it 2-0, and Haula made it 3-0 at 8:59.
"The depth that we have, bringing [Lindberg] in who hasn't played all playoffs long, to have him come in and play with me and Eakin, he did really well," Tuch said.
Kevin Labanc (9:35), Hertl (11:44) and Mikkel Boedker (15:44) scored three goals in 6:11 to get the Sharks to within 4-3.

It was Labanc's first NHL playoff goal.
"We have to play harder for longer stretches than we did tonight," San Jose coach Peter DeBoer said. "That's why we lost."
The winner of Game 5 in a best-of-7 NHL series has gone on to win the series 78.9 percent of the time (202-54), according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Goal of the game

Tuch's goal at 8:36 of the third period.

Save of the game

Fleury stopping Hertl at 1:19 of the third period.

Highlight of the game

Haula's goal at 8:59 of the second period.

They said it

"You guys see these guys' regular-season record. That's not an accident. They're very good at home. Thirty teams tried to figure that out this year, and no one had success. We have to go back (home), win a game, and then find a way in Game 7."-- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer
"I thought we did a great job for two periods. Last period, we were in the penalty box a bit too much and pucks ended up in our own net. Not to say we hit the panic button, but we've got to learn from it."-- Golden Knights defenseman Luca Sbisa

Need to know

Couture had three assists. He has seven points (two goals, five assists) in the series. ... Golden Knights forward William Carrier left the game at 8:41 of the second period because of an undisclosed injury. He is questionable for Game 6. … Sbisa was plus-1 with six hits and three blocked shots in 17:00 in his return to the lineup.

What's next

Game 6 of Western Conference Second Round at SAP Center on Sunday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS)