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SAN JOSE — Aaron Dell could only do so much Sunday night.
Dell was mostly spectacular as he made his third start in the last four games, but couldn’t stop a wrist shot by Shea Theodore at the 8:05 mark of the third period as the Sharks went on to lose 3-1 to the Vegas Golden Knights in their final game before the Christmas break.
Logan Couture scored off a handsome feed from Brent Burns at the 3:04 mark of the third period to tie the game 1-1. But after the Golden Knights established some pressure inside the Sharks’ zone, Theodore took a pass from William Karlsson and beat Dell from near the faceoff dot for his fifth goal of the season.
Jonathan Marchessault added an insurance goal with 3:25 left in regulation time for the Golden Knights, who took the season series with the Sharks three games to one.
“I thought positive things were going to come out of it,” Sharks associate head coach Roy Sommer said of the game when it was tied 1-1. “But it’s kind of like you’re waiting for the other shoe to fall off, and sure enough, that’s what happened.”
Paul Stastny also scored for Vegas, with his goal at the 17:31 mark of the second period opening the scoring. The Golden Knights (20-13-6) have now won four of five and are tied with the Arizona Coyotes for the Pacific Division lead.
The loss was the Sharks’ third straight and their ninth in 10 games this month. At 16-20-2, they now begin their four-day Christmas break nine points out of a Western Conference wild card spot. The Sharks’ next game is Friday at home against the Los Angeles Kings.
“Don’t think it’s ever been this bad, where we’ve gone this many games without points,” Couture said. “We’re not finding ways to get out of losing streaks. That’s what good teams do.”
The boo birds inside SAP Center came out after the Sharks managed just one shot on goal on a power play chance in the second period.
Dell turned those into cheers by early in the third period, as he turned away chances by William Carrier, Alex Tuch and Brayden McNabb. Dell had stopped 22 shots in the first two periods.
The Sharks, though, finished 0 for 2 with the man advantage, as Vegas goalie Malcolm Subban finished with 37 saves to improve his record this year to 6-5-3 in 14 games.
“We were solid. Especially the first half of the game, I really liked our game,” Vegas coach Gerard Gallant said. “We didn’t give them a whole lot. They had a push at the end, which you knew they were going to and they had a lot of opportunities, but that’s when (Subban) really made some key saves.”
