Morelli has 2 points in NHL debut, Golden Knights shut out Sharks

SAN JOSE -- Mason Morelli had a goal and an assist in his NHL debut for the Vegas Golden Knights in a 4-0 win against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Monday.

"It went pretty well," said the 28-year-old forward, who was recalled from Henderson of the American Hockey League on Saturday. "Those guys made it pretty easy in the locker room. Good group of guys, and they were very welcoming. Yeah, it was awesome. Special moment. My family was here, so yeah, it was pretty cool."

Logan Thompson made 29 saves, and Alec Martinez had three assists for the Golden Knights (32-17-6), who had lost two straight games.

"We had a tough first shift or a couple. We got lucky," Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. "They hit a couple of posts, Logan made some good saves. That could have given them a lot of life. I think we can still play through that stuff, but the fact that we get a quick-hitter breakaway goal was probably demoralizing."

Mackenzie Blackwood made 22 saves for the Sharks (15-35-5), who have lost four of five and were shut out or the ninth time this season.

"I know it was a 4-0 loss, but I thought we were working really hard," Sharks forward Kevin Labanc said. "We just didn't get the right bounces, and that was a good goalie we were shooting on this afternoon. You just put your head down and stick with it and don't let this loss rub you the wrong way, because I think you can take a lot of good from this game as well."

Michael Amadio gave Vegas a 1-0 lead at 2:28 of the first period on a breakaway.

"It's just inexcusable. It can't happen," Sharks coach David Quinn said. "We started out great. We're ready to play. First two-and-a-half minutes we were buzzing. Crossbars. Chances. Then we gave up, like, our 38th breakaway in three games."

William Karlsson made it 2-0 at 4:25, scoring on the rebound of a shot by Martinez.

Morelli extended the lead to 3-0 at 19:12, deflecting in a cross-ice pass from Alex Pietrangelo on the power play. 

"I didn't see it go in right away," Morelli said. "Once I knew it was in, it was pretty cool. We were hooting and hollering a little bit. It's a special moment for sure. I got to see the replay with my family (celebrating), too. It's hard to put into words, but it was pretty special."

Keegan Kolesar made it 4-0 at 18:44 of the second period when he tapped in a backdoor pass from Martinez.

"I thought after the first few minutes we found our game," Amadio said. "A lot of good things to go into tomorrow (against the Nashville Predators) with."

NOTES: Morelli joined Cody Glass (Oct. 2, 2019) and Vadim Shipachyov (Oct. 15, 2017) as the only players to score in their NHL debut for the Golden Knights. … Morelli (28 years, 18 days) became the third player age 28 or older to have multiple points in their regular-season debut in the past 30 years, joining Jaroslav Hlinka (two assists with the Colorado Avalanche on Oct. 3, 2007) and Ilya Byakin (one goal, two assists with the Edmonton Oilers on Nov. 6, 1993). ... The Golden Knights extended their road point streak against the Sharks to 15 games dating to Feb. 8, 2018 (12-0-3).