Golden Knights stunned by controversial call to end season abruptly

By Justin Emerson (contact)

Wednesday, April 24, 2019 | 12:05

SAN JOSE, California. – We'll talk about it forever in Vegas. Tuesday's game may have a supernatural nickname one day, how amazing and crazy it was.

All Golden Knights fans will remember where they were when Cody Eakin was called for a five-minute counter-check and misconduct. Vegas scored three goals and it was 10:47 remaining in SAP Center. Some may have thought that it opened a door in San Jose, but no one could have predicted what would follow.

The Sharks rallied to score four goals in 4:01 to take the lead. The Golden Knights scored 47 seconds into the rules to force overtime, but Barclay Goodrow's goal ended the game at 18:19 of overtime.

The Golden Knights lost 5-4 and lost the series in seven games.

"It's a joke (expletive). This is embarrassing, "said forward Jonathan Marchessault. "This call changes the whole result. Change all our future, the result of this year. It's a joke. I would be embarrassed if I were them.

"Was it stolen? Yeah. It was 3-0.

Sharks captain Joe Pavelski appeared to be cold on the ice after Eakin's counter-check, and only after it was clear how injured he was, the referees stopped the game, huddled and asked for a penalty. The replays showed that Eakin checked Pavelski's qualifications, but the Golden Knights did not agree that it deserved five minutes and one game.

Vegas coach, Gerard Gallant, said there was no intention and that no one stood face to face and called it a "terrible call" .

The referees did not give much explanation.

"The referees called a verification sanction for an offense that caused a serious injury," said the series' supervisor, Don Van Massenhoven, in a statement. "In their judgment, the offense and its outcome deserved a major sentence."

Angry or not, discouraged or not, whether or not it acts of a major penalty, the Golden Knights have allocated four power-play goals, the second time in the history of the NHL.

"You're giving four more goals on the powerplay, that's too much," said defenseman Nate Schmidt. "Whether it's a penalty or not, you still can not do that."

What we can forget in the story is how much the game was felt after Max Pacioretty's goal at 3:36 of the third. Vegas led 3-0 in front of a stunned SAP Center and Marc-André Fleury was standing on his head. He made a spectacular save after another, and it seemed that only a miracle could help the Sharks.

Then the trouble arrived. The goal of Logan Couture was to unsheathe the knife. Tomas Hertl has been sharpening it. The second time, Couture won the hearts of Vegas and Kevin Labanc. It was 4-3 and it seemed that the arena could crack under the tremors of the crowd.

Marchessault's late goal with the extra striker was huge and allowed the dagger to be pulled out of the Golden Knights' chances. The match began again, an opportunity to forget a penalty they did not think deserved, but it turned out that the injury was still present even after the disappearance of the knife. Goodrow's overtime goal put an end to everything.

"Last year we were in the Stanley Cup final and it was hard to lose," said Gallant. "Tonight was harder than that."

The Golden Knights had a 3-1 lead in the series and 3-0 in the third period of the seventh game. It was a team that could have competed for the Stanley Cup after seeing the number one seed in the West drop to the ice at home in the second round.

Now, a long season is waiting for us. There will be free agent exchanges, signatures and extensions, as well as everything that goes along with a hockey season.

This happens much earlier than expected in the team.

"Look where we are, summer starts, five months before the first game, when the regular season begins," said Marchessault. "You think we were ready to start our summer here? We are a great team. "

Then it faded before finishing.

"It's amazing."