The future of hockey is upon us.



The San Jose Sharks topped the Golden Knights 3-2 Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena, and while the action between the division rivals was riveting, the most impressive part of the game was invisible to the thousands watching.



It was hidden inside the rubber of the pucks, and within the thread of each player’s shoulder pads, safely concealed by their sweater.



This week microchips were implanted and tracked live during a regular season game for the first time in NHL history. The tracking system was first tested in Tuesday’s game between the Golden Knights and Rangers, and Thursday the NHL granted The Athletic behind the scenes access to the infinite possibilities that come with this new form of tracking.



Screens mounted on the walls of a suite at T-Mobile Arena showed Golden Knights forwards Ryan Reaves and Tomas Nosek barreling toward the San Jose net. Above Reaves and Nosek, small graphics showed their...