For a rebuilding team like the San Jose Sharks, you can't just give away games to the Vegas Golden Knights. The Sharks are well on their way to competing again in the Western Conference with their young talent. However, growing pains are still going to happen for the next year or two. The problem is that the Sharks and veterans like Jeff Skinner hope that the errors won't come from fellow veteran, goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic.
Nedeljkovic is in San Jose to be a valuable tandem-mate to young goaltender Yaroslav Askaraov. Most expected Askarov to be the starter this year, which made it surprising that Nedeljkovic was given the start on opening night. It would've been a good showing of faith to provide Askarov with the nod in front of his home fans. Nevertheless, Nedeljkovic's two costly mistakes cost his team the game, despite them having a late lead.
“He played great. What can you say? He's been around long enough. He handles the puck better than almost any other goalie in the league, I would say. That's a treat as a player to play with a guy that handles the puck that well,” Skinner told reporters after the game. “I like to take his chances to try and spring our guys on the 2-on-0, and we try and win the game in overtime. He's going to be probably not feeling great, but I think he's old enough, he's been around long enough, he's confident in his abilities, and we're confident in him too.”
Nedeljkovic let in a weak goal for the Golden Knights to make it 3-3 late, but it was his decision-making in overtime that irked fans. Instead of staying in his net to face the pending breakaway, he tried to skate to the blueline to play the puck, where he gave it away to Reilly Smith for an easy tap-in.
With the Sharks hoping for an early draft pick again this season, the point Nedeljkovic gave away might come in handy later in the season when they're in the draft lottery race. Still, with all the excitement of opening night, giving this one away against a division rival hurts.
