Ed Graney

The star forward from Russia, fresh from signing a one-year, entry level contract, will be wearing a suit instead of skates Tuesday night when the Knights and Sharks meet in Game 4 of a best-of-seven playoff series at T-Mobile Arena.

Golden Knights forward Mark Stone had a hat trick Sunday and has six goals in the first three games, leading a second line that is giving the Sharks all sorts of matchup headaches.

If the idea about March Madness is to survive-and-advance, the Knights on Friday night defined playoff hockey as survive-the-lunacy, and in the process won 5-3 and climbed straight into this best-of-seven Western Conference series.

Home ice for San Jose in the first round of this best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series means for the Knights to advance they would have to win at least one game — and perhaps more — in a place the Sharks were terrific over a majority of the season.

The Golden Knights need to be a whole lot better at everything to have a chance at evening the best-of-seven series against San Jose in Game 2 on Friday, and near the top of such a list is making things far more difficult on a couple star blue liners.

San Jose has come to play in this best-of-seven Western Conference affair with the Golden Knights, and whichever team survives to advance will do so with plenty of black and blue to show for it after the Sharks’ 5-2 victory Wednesday night in Game 1.

Of the three Western Conference opponents the Golden Knights eliminated on their way to a Stanley Cup final as an expansion team last year, San Jose extended things longest in a six-game series.

Iron man Marc-Andre Fleury started 43 of the team’s first 50 games and 59 of its first 71 this season, along the way making his second straight and fourth All-Star game overall and putting the Golden Knights in position for another Stanley Cup run.