Jones, Sharks shut down Golden Knights in Game 1

SAN JOSE -- Martin Jones made 24 saves for the San Jose Sharks in a 5-2 win against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round at SAP Center on Wednesday.

Brent Burns, Evander Kane, Tomas Hertl and Marc-Edouard Vlasic each had a goal and an assist, and Erik Karlsson had two assists for San Jose in a rematch of the 2018 Western Conference Second Round, which Vegas won in six games.
Game 2 of the best-of-7 series is Friday at San Jose.
"I thought we played a poised game," Burns said. "We're going to have to play together, stay close to each other with lots of talk. They come hard, they play real physical, and I thought we played a poised game."
WATCH: [Golden Knights vs. Sharks Game 1 highlights | Complete series coverage]
The Golden Knights, who reached the Stanley Cup Final last season as an expansion team, lost a series opener for just the second time. They lost 4-2 to the Winnipeg Jets in Game 1 of the 2018 conference final.
Mark Stone scored twice, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 28 saves for Vegas.
"Definitely not the way we want to start a series," Fleury said. "I think we expected it was going to be intense and physical."
Joe Pavelski was credited with a power-play goal at 14:42 of the first period to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead after Burns' shot deflected off Pavelski's face.
Pavelski did not play the remainder of the first period but returned at the beginning of the second.
"He goes to where it hurts," Sharks forward Timo Meier said. "He's a tough guy and we know that. He shakes off those kinds of things, and he's a leader. He definitely helped a lot in us winning the game tonight."

San Jose scored three times in the second period. Burns made it 2-0 at 6:59, and Vlasic scored 45 seconds later for a 3-0 lead at 7:44.
Stone cut the lead to 3-1 at 8:32, but Kane scored with 18 seconds remaining to make it 4-1.
"I thought we played them well in the first period," Stone said. "We eased into the game, but we eased into it a little too long and we kind of let them take over the game in the second half of the second."
The Sharks outshot the Golden Knights 22-10 through two periods.
"I don't think it has anything to do with them," Stone said. "It's more to do with us. We've got to focus on our own game."

Stone scored on the power play at 15:26 of the third period to cut the lead to 4-2, but Hertl scored into an empty net at 18:11 for the 5-2 final.
"They outplayed us in every facet of the game tonight," Golden Knights coach Gerard Gallant said. "They played hard and they competed. We weren't good enough and we'll have to do better next game."

They said it

"We shot ourselves in the foot. We didn't play our style, we didn't play our game. That's something we have to refocus and get back to."-- Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore
"The only critics that matter are the ones in the room, and there aren't any. I don't think he cared if he silenced [critics], and I don't think we do either." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer on goalie Martin Jones, who had a 2.94 goals-against average and .896 save percentage this season

Need to know

The Golden Knights and Sharks combined for 83 hits and 56 penalty minutes. Meier and Vegas forward William Carrier each had nine hits. … Vegas forward Max Pacioretty had two assists. … Pavelski said he lost teeth and received stitches in the locker room after his goal. … The Sharks are 13-7 all-time when taking a 1-0 lead in a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series. Teams that take a 1-0 lead are 467-214 (68.6 percent) all-time.

What's next

Game 2 of the Western Conference First Round at SAP Center on Friday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN360, TVAS2, NBCSCA, ATTSN-RM)