SAN JOSE – Alex Nedeljkovic was enjoying a stellar debut with the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night before everything fell apart late in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights at SAP Center.
The Sharks led 3-2 late in the third period when William Eklund missed a wraparound chance to score on an empty net. Just seconds later, a flip shot on net by Jack Eichel bounced in front of goalie Alex Nedeljkovic and into the net to tie the game with 1:34 left in regulation time.
Reilly Smith scored at the 1:24 mark of overtime off a puckhandling error by Nedeljkovic, as the Sharks lost a season opener for the fourth straight year.
Philipp Kurashev put the Sharks ahead at the 2:59 mark of the third period.
With the Sharks pressuring inside the Golden Knights’ zone, defenseman Dmitry Orlo