BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The San Jose Sharks award a thick black vest to their player of the game after each victory.
Of course it went to Marc-Edouard Vlasic on Tuesday night.
Vlasic, 37, broke Mark Giordano's NHL record for career blocked shots during a 6-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres. So the extra padding from the vest might come in handy for the veteran defenseman.
"He knows how to play the position, puts his body in the lanes, blocked big shots his whole career. You guys have seen it," coach Ryan Warsofsky said. "I know how proud each of his teammates are. They gave him a standing ovation in the locker room. It was quite a scene and well-deserved."
Vlasic set the record by getting in front of Zach Benson's wrister 2:16 into the first period. He finished with two blocks to increase his career total to 2,166.
"That's a lot of blocked shots," Vlasic said. "It's pretty cool. I take pride in playing good defensively."
Giordano, 41, remains unsigned after spending the previous three seasons with Toronto.
Vlasic broke the record in his 1,308th game. He has played for the Sharks for 19 seasons, beginning in 2006-07, a year after the NHL began tracking blocked shots.
"Just incredible, an incredible achievement," said goalie Alexandar Georgiev, who stopped 20 shots in the victory. "It feels like he hasn't played in a while, but he got back into the lineup and just making all the right plays at the right time. You can see that he's a special player. Very nice player."
Durable, too.
Vlasic, a Montreal native, ranks eighth among active players in games played. He has topped 100 blocked shots in a season 12 times, including last in 2023-24 when he finished with 108.
He sat out the first 40 games of this season because of an upper-body injury. He has 22 blocked shots in 12 games.
"When it's your turn to block, you block it," Vlasic said. "I'll step in front of any puck I need to to make sure it doesn't get to the goalie."
