<p>LAS VEGAS &mdash; Jonathan Marchessault scored twice and the Vegas Golden Knights defeated the San Jose Sharks 5-2 on Wednesday night for their eighth straight win.</p>
<p>Vegas, which leads the NHL with 33 wins and 68 points, became the first team in the NHL to clinch a playoff berth.</p>
<p>The Golden Knights improved to 15-1-3 all-time against the Sharks in regular-season meetings — including a perfect 7-0-0 this season. Vegas also improved to 18-4-2 at home this season.</p>
<p>Mark Stone Alex Tuch, and Mattias Janmark also scored for Vegas. Marc-Andre Fleury made 31 saves to improve to 5-0-0 against the Sharks this season and 7-0-1 in his last eight.</p>
<p>Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl scored for San Jose, which is now mired in a 0-6-1 slide. Josef Korenar made 35 saves. Two nights after Patrick Marleau appeared in his record-breaking 1,768th career NHL game to pass Gordie Howe for all-time games played, he skated in his 900th consecutive game, becoming the fourth player ever to do so.</p>
<p>The Sharks took a 2-1 lead just past midway through the second period before the Golden Knights scored four unanswered goals.</p>
<p>On the power play, Pacioretty fed Stone, who wrapped the puck around Korenar to knot the score 2-all with 7:08 left in the period. It was Stone’s team-leading sixth power-play goal of the season, while Pacioretty became the 10th active U.S.-born player to collect 600 career points.</p>
<p>Tuch blasted home the go-ahead goal with 50 seconds left in the second, giving Vegas its first lead of the game.</p>
<p>Marchessault netted his second goal and third point of the night when he beat Korenar short side, extending Vegas’ lead to 4-2 with 6:42 left in the game.</p>
<p>Janmark, who was acquired from Chicago at the trade deadline, scored an empty-netter for his first as a Golden Knight with 56 seconds to go.</p>
<p>Vegas, which had scored the game’s first goal in eight of its previous 11, saw the Sharks take a 1-0 lead for the second straight game when Meier was camped in front of Fleury and was able to deflect Joel Kellman’s centering pass after coming from behind the net 2:38 into the game.</p>
<p>Marchessault, who played in his 395th career game, tied it when he made a nifty move in front of Korenar and then reached around San Jose’s 23-year-old netminder to tuck it home at 6:51.</p>
<p>After Marleau had his shot kick saved, Hertl was there to thread the rebound just over Fleury’s shoulder and inside the post to give San Jose a 2-1 lead with 8:53 left in the second period. The advantge lasted less than two minutes.</p>
<p>UP NEXT</p>
<p>Sharks: Host Minnesota on Saturday.</p>
<p>Golden Knigts: At Anaheim on Saturday.</p>
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