LAS VEGAS — — Brett Howden scored twice, Mark Stone had a goal and two assists and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the winless San Jose Sharks 7-3 on Saturday night.

William Karlsson, who missed the first eight games with an undisclosed injury, had a goal and an assist in his season debut for Vegas. Tanner Pearson, Jack Eichel and Pavel Dorofeyev also scored for the Golden Knights, and Ilya Samsonov made 24 saves.

Mikael Granlund, Nico Sturm and Luke Kunin scored for San Jose, while Vitek Vanecek made 35 saves.

Takeaways

San Jose: The Sharks became the first team in NHL history to go winless through the first nine games in consecutive seasons. According to Stathead, only 10 teams have started the season winless after 10 games, including last year’s Sharks team that didn’t get its first win until the 12th game.

Vegas: For the first time in his 12-year career, Tomas Hertl stepped in for an opening puck drop against the Sharks. Hertl spent 11 seasons in San Jose before being traded last March. Hertl finished with two assists, extending his points streak to three games (3 goals, 4 assists).

Key moment

After Granlund’s goal put the Sharks within 3-1 in the second period, Vanecek gave the Knights their momentum back when he raced from his crease for the puck. But as he dove for it, Karlsson beat him to it, then grabbed the puck, skated around again and buried it to restore the three-goal lead midway through the period.

Key stat

Howden became the 13th Golden Knights player to score a multi-point game this season when he scored his second goal of the game. Karlsson was 12th when he scored his goal earlier in the match.

Next

The Golden Knights host Calgary on Monday, while the Sharks play at Utah.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL