Kessel sets NHL ironman record in Golden Knights win against Sharks

SAN JOSE -- Phil Kessel played his
990th consecutive NHL game
, breaking the record held by Keith Yandle, and scored his 400th goal for the Vegas Golden Knights in a 4-2 win against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Tuesday.

"Isn't that ironic how it works out," Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said. "Good for him. He certainly earned it. Those young legs were churning on that one. He still skates, still makes plays. Very happy for him. Obviously, it's a big night for him. You want to remember when you break a record with a win. To be able to score a goal, something he's done his whole life to get to 400, I think is just great. It's a great night for him, and we're all happy to be part of it."
Shea Theodore, William Karlsson and Mark Stone scored in the third period for Vegas (6-2-0), which won 3-1 against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday.
Adin Hill made 29 saves in his first start against the Sharks since they traded him to the Golden Knights on Aug. 29.
"It was nice," Hill said. "It's all the hype around it, but at the same time, it's just another game. We're happy to come in here on a back-to-back and come out with two points."

Nico Sturm and Matt Nieto scored for San Jose (2-7-0), which was beginning a six-game homestand. James Reimer made 27 saves.
"We shot ourselves in the foot again at home, and we've got to be better," Sharks coach David Quinn said. "Your biggest mistakes cannot be of that magnitude if you're going to have success in this league."
Kessel scored his first of the season to give Vegas a 1-0 lead at 15:51 of the first period. Brett Howden got control of the puck in the Golden Knights zone and sent a lead pass to Kessel, who warded off Matt Benning and chipped a shot over Reimer.
"It was just pure happiness from everyone," Karlsson said. "Everyone was just cheering and howling. It was really good to see it go in."
Sturm tied it 1-1 at 5:33 of the second period when he redirected a point shot by Kevin Labanc.
"We had some good zone time, and you know [Labanc] is a guy who likes to shoot the puck, so I knew he was probably coming my way one way or another, so I just tried to get a stick on it," Sturm said.
Nieto put the Sharks in front 2-1 at 19:25, receiving a stretch pass from Tomas Hertl and shooting glove side on Hill on a breakaway.
"That was probably our best second (period) of the season," Hertl said.
Theodore scored 55 seconds into the third period on a shot through traffic to tie it 2-2.
Karlsson then gave Vegas a 3-2 lead at 13:13, cutting around Erik Karlsson in the neutral zone before beating Reimer over his right shoulder.
"We weren't happy with the second period overall," Karlsson said. "It was a bit sloppy there to let them get the go-ahead goal. We talked about it, and we were determined to turn things around. It was good to see."

Stone scored off a backdoor pass from Chandler Stephenson at 14:15 for the 4-2 final.
"If you're playing a team that's coming off a back-to-back, you can't have a third period like that, right?" Sturm said. "You're supposed to have the fresher legs. We totally screwed that one up."