Though the San Jose Sharks produced much better on-ice results against the Anaheim Ducks than they did against the Vegas Golden Knights, the scoreboard didn’t cooperate. If someone told you only the score of last night’s game, you’d be forgiven for raising an skeptical eyebrow when that someone followed up their assertion by telling you the Sharks were the much better 5-on-5 team for most of the night.
In the first period, the Sharks took 63 percent of all score- and venue-adjusted shots with five skaters aside. The team also generated just fewer than 53 percent of all expected goals.