Early look The full preview opens on Saturday 6 March, three days before puck drop, with the expected goalies, the latest team news and game-day prices. Until then this page shows the matchup as it stands.
Early look · NHL 2026-27

San Jose Sharks at Vegas Golden Knights: game preview

Puck drop9 Mar · 10:30 PM ET
VenueT-Mobile Arena
All-time meetings51 completed
BasisLast 5 meetings + 2025-26
The thesis

Nine points apart last season

San Jose finished last season 24th in the league on 86 points. Vegas finished 13th on 95, and the 2025-26 season series went VGK 4-0-0.

Game-day prices arrive with the afternoon snapshot, about 4:30 PM ET on the day of the game.

Head-to-head

Meeting number 52

Across 51 completed games, Vegas lead the head-to-head 38-5-8.

All-time record38-5-8Vegas's record in the series
Meetings played51This is number 52
2025-26 seriesVGK 4-0-0
Last 55-0Vegas
DateResultShotsPower playWinner
11 Jan 2026VGK 7 – SJS 2——VGK
23 Dec 2025SJS 2 – VGK 7——VGK
29 Nov 2025SJS 3 – VGK 4——VGK
9 Oct 2025VGK 4 – SJS 3 OT——VGK
7 Jan 2025VGK 4 – SJS 2——VGK
Head-to-head finder

The table on each 2025-26 meeting night

DateSan JoseVegas
9 Oct 20250-0-1 · 1 pts19th1-0-1 · 3 pts5th
29 Nov 202512-11-3 · 27 pts22nd11-6-8 · 30 pts11th
23 Dec 202517-17-3 · 37 pts24th17-8-10 · 44 pts8th
11 Jan 202623-19-3 · 49 pts18th21-11-12 · 54 pts9th

League rank after that night's games; a longer bar is a higher place. On 9 Oct 2025, San Jose were 19th in the league and Vegas 5th. By 11 Jan 2026 it was 18th and 9th.


Where the shots come from · last 5 meetings

Vegas out-attempted San Jose 232 to 198

Every attempt from the last meetings, both teams shooting right.

San Jose Sharks

198 att · 87 on goal · 10 G · 11.5%
Crease18 att · 2 G
Slot77 att · 7 G
Wing63 att · 1 G
Point31 att · 0 G
Neutral zone9 att · 0 G

Vegas Golden Knights

232 att · 113 on goal · 22 G · 19.5%
Crease27 att · 6 G
Slot79 att · 8 G
Wing87 att · 5 G
Point33 att · 1 G
Neutral zone6 att · 2 G
GoalOn goalMissedBlocked

Expected goals

Vegas have created the better chances, last 10 games

Shot quality both ways: expected goals weigh every unblocked attempt by its chance of scoring. Finishing above zero means more goals than the chances.

San JoseVegas
2.13xG for per game3.79
3.72xG against per game2.09
36.4%xG share64.4%
+2.6FinishingGoals minus expected goals+1.8
−0.8GoaltendingExpected goals against minus goals allowed−1.6

This season: 3 games for San Jose, 4 for Vegas. Small sample: early-season xG moves a lot from night to night.

Every team’s xG →


Special teams

Power play and penalty kill, season and series

This season's rates first, then 2025-26 and the last meetings between the two. Power-play chances are counted from the penalty log with coincidental minors cancelled; faceoffs are each club's wins over draws taken.

All bars share one scale · 0–100%SeasonLast meetings

San Jose

Small sample
Power play · 2026-2725.0%
Power play · 2025-2621.2% · 16th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2775.0%
Penalty kill · 2025-2676.4% · 26th
Faceoffs · 2026-2744.4% · 72/162
Drawn · 2026-278 (2.67/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-2712 (4.00/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

Vegas

Small sample
Power play · 2026-2731.3%
Power play · 2025-2624.6% · 6th
Power play · last 5 meetings—
Penalty kill · 2026-2783.3%
Penalty kill · 2025-2681.4% · 7th
Faceoffs · 2026-2753.0% · 122/230
Drawn · 2026-2716 (4.00/gm)
Drawn · last meetings0 (0.00/gm)
Shorthanded · 2026-2712 (3.00/gm)
PP goals · last meetings0

Skaters

Skaters to watch

Each club's top three forwards and defencemen by points this season, with 2025-26 one tap away.

PlayerGPGAPP/GP
2Will Smith32131.00
92Igor Chernyshov32131.00
9Jack Eichel428102.50
95Victor Olofsson44151.25
48Tomas Hertl43251.25
Points leaders
PlayerGPGAPP/GP
42Luca Cagnoni31120.67
5Nolan Allan21010.50
65Jacob Trouba30110.33
27Shea Theodore41230.75
15Noah Hanifin41010.25
Defencemen stats

Goaltending

Who has stopped this matchup

Save percentage in the last meetings by goalie. Starters are confirmed on game day.

Expected startersAn estimate until the teams confirmEvery game tonight →

Expected starter after their game on 6 Mar: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

Expected starter after their game on 7 Mar: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.

San Jose crease

SJS · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 6 Mar

Yaroslav Askarov.8623 GP · 2-1-0 · GSAx −0.8

No appearances against Vegas in the last meetings.

Vegas crease

VGK · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 6 Mar

Carter Hart.8903 GP · 2-1-0 · GSAx −1.1
Adin Hill.9001 GP · 1-0-0 · GSAx −0.5

No appearances against San Jose in the last meetings.


Totals

Scoring rates point to about 6.5 goals

No total is posted yet: it arrives with the game-day prices. Until then, the scoring rates and the recent meetings set the range.

Goals in the last 5 meetings

11 Jan 20269 · VGK 7–2 SJS
23 Dec 20259 · SJS 2–7 VGK
29 Nov 20257 · SJS 3–4 VGK
9 Oct 20257 · VGK 4–3 SJS
7 Jan 20256 · VGK 4–2 SJS

Bar length is total goals, coloured by the winner.

Scoring rates

Team26-27 GF26-27 GA25-26 GF25-26 GA
San Jose3.004.003.063.56
Vegas4.252.503.233.05

Goals for and against per game. The estimate averages each team’s scoring with the other’s goals allowed, and leans on 2025-26 until a team has played 20 games.

Scoring rates suggest6.5Goals in this game
Last 5 meetings7.6Goals per game
Line—No total posted yet
Books at the line—With the game-day prices

Team news

9 on the injury lists

San Jose · injuries

Adam GaudetteUpper BodyIRReturn10 Oct
Alex Barre-BouletUndisclosedIRReturn8 Oct
Cam LundUpper BodyIRReturn19 Oct
Kyle KeyserUpper BodyIRReturn1 Dec
Macklin CelebriniLower BodyDay-to-dayReturn8 Oct
Quentin MustyUpper BodyIRReturn1 Dec

Vegas · injuries

Lukas CormierUndisclosedIRReturn22 Oct
Raphael LavoieUndisclosedOutReturn8 Oct
Victor OlofssonUndisclosedDay-to-dayReturn8 Oct
4 Oct · SJS

Placed C Patrick Giles on waivers.

27 Sep · SJS

Placed G Ilya Samsonov on waivers.

23 Sep · SJS

Placed RW Ethan Cardwell, D Libor Hajek and LW Tye Felhaber on waivers.

30 Sep · VGK

Signed C William Karlsson to a two-year contract.

29 Sep · VGK

Placed C Jakub Cormier, RW Matyas Hemmerling and C Jakub Uchacz on the injured non-roster list.

23 Sep · VGK

Placed D Jaycob Megna, D Adam Ginning, D Joe Fleming, C Jakub Demek and D Jeremy Davies on waivers.

Injury report
#2Ivar StenbergRound 1 · FrolundaLW
#9Keaton VerhoeffRound 1 · North DakotaD
#21Ryan LinRound 1 · VancouverD
#127Brady KnowlingRound 4 · Usa U-18G
Full draft
#29Juho PiiparinenRound 1 · TapparaD
#63ForfeitedRound 2 ·
#92Benjamin WilmottRound 3 · BarrieC
#95Sean BurickRound 3 · PentictonD
Full draft

Updated after every final