Game one goes to the Sharks and it wasn't particularly close. For the majority of last night's game, the Golden Knights' biggest rivals took it to them. Throughout the 60 minutes, the Golden Knights had a few decent spurts, but didn't sustain enough pressure to win a playoff game. A few things, in particular, stood out from last night's 5-2 drubbing. Without further adieu, here's our first playoff installment of "Game Changers".

#1: San Jose's Aggressiveness

It's no secret that the Golden Knights base a lot of their offense around speed, tenacity, and a strong forecheck. In Game One, the Sharks were the team that better employed the strategy. We have seen time and time again, when the game gets taken to the Golden Knights, they're usually on the wrong end of the outcome.

In game one, the Sharks brought the speed and took the game to their opponents. Right from the opening draw, the Sharks were threatening with redirections, set up by Erik Karlsson wrist shots from the blue line. Later in the evening, Evander Kane cashed in on one of those very blue line feeds from Karlsson.

Over the first two periods, the Sharks pushed play to the tune of a 60.7% Corsi For, building their three goal lead. When your whole game is centered around speed and quickness, nights like this happen. It is unrealistic to think a team will be the fastest, night in - night out, but that's the Golden Knights' mantra and they will either live or die by it.

It's hard to imagine the Sharks consistently being the faster team, but if they can pull that off, the Knights are in trouble. In the third period, they were able to generate more shots and sustain better pressure, but this was with their opponents in "defend the lead" mode. Simply put, the Golden Knights were beat to the punch, went down three goals, and need to find a way to turn the tides in Game 2 on Friday.

#2: Minor Penalties

Yes, minor penalties were a huge game changer. It seemed as if the Golden Knights couldn't help, but go visit the Sharks' penalty box attendant. Is he a close friend of the team? Does he have the good Gatorade in that box? Something must have been up because as quick as the Golden Knights would do something well, they'd take another penalty. Playing a large portion of the game shorthanded is not a good idea, against a team constructed like the Sharks.

Sharks defensemen Brent Burns, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, and Karlsson all made an impact on the scoresheet in game one. Karlsson and Burns were unstoppable on the power play and Vlasic added a goal of his own. For as much flack as Brandon Pirri gets for his lack of a defensive game, he could have played better defense for the Golden Knights in their own zone. For a team that healthy scratches offensive threats, cough Pirri cough Colin Miller, the team needs to do a far better job in their own end, regardless of how good the Sharks may be.

#3: Mark Stone

Gerard Gallant's shiniest, newest player was the only man who was able to score on Martin Jones. Despite his stellar career playoff numbers, everyone has been able to score on Jones this season. Stone scored both of the Golden Knights' goals, on their way to the 5-2 loss.

Stone also played a big role on the opposite end of the ice, routinely jamming up the Sharks offense. This season's takeaway leader made his presence felt, but it simply wasn't enough to get his new team back into the game.

#4 Rallying Around Injuries

Captain Joe Pavelski scored the first goal of the game for the Sharks, off of his chin. He took a shot from Burns right in the mouth and the angle was just perfect to beat Marc-Andre Fleury to open the scoring. He went straight to the locker room following the shot. A short time later Timo Meier joined Pavelski in the locker room, after he got caught up high.

For a prolonged stretch, the Sharks were without two of their best forwards. Instead of getting overwhelmed and losing their lead, the Sharks' bottom-six forwards stepped up, including a noticably solid game from Marcus Sorensen. Eventually, Meier returned and then Pavelski as well, donning a full face shield. Seeing their captain come back after sacrificing his body to win, seemed to give the Sharks a little extra jump in the second, helping them pull away and secure the game.

#5: Lineup Choices

Earlier in this article, there was mention of two men serving as healthy scratches for the Golden Knights. Those men, Miller and Pirri, could have helped out in a game where one player (Stone) scored all of the goals. Nick Holden skated in Miller's place, on the third pair, alongside Jon Merrill. That pair has not been especially good together all season, despite a solid year from Merrill. Miller sitting for Holden is definitely a head scratcher, as it's hard to find one area where Holden provides a signifcant upgrade over Miller, whereas Miller provides strengths and layers to the game that Holden simply does not.

Pirri on the other hand has been serving as a healthy scratch, while the likes of Tomas Nosek, Ryan Carpenter, William Carrier, and Ryan Reaves receive ice time. The knock on Pirri has been his defense, but like Miller, Pirri provides a significant offensive upgrade over his cohorts. The pending-UFA winger has 12 goals in 31 games on the season, yet finds himself as one of the odd men out. Joined by Valentin Zykov and Carpenter in the press box, Pirri has to be wondering why he isn't out there, playing on the third line with Cody Eakin and Alex Tuch.

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Game two will be an interesting game to watch, to say the least. The Golden Knights could not have expected to get rolled over, like they did in game one. Expect a strong push back from a resilient VGK team on Friday night in San Jose. For the Sharks, keeping their foot on the gas is imperative because if not, the Golden Knights can quickly jump in even the smallest of windows. With one fiesty, vitriol-filled game in the books, the remainder of this series is certainly the main attraction of the playoffs.

These two teams will face off Friday evening at 7:30 PST on NBCSN. Be sure to follow me on Twitter (@VGK_Buzz) for Vegas Golden Knights news, updates, and analysis.
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