Comeback and shooting combo in Kings’ narrow win over Sharks – Hockey Writer – Los Angeles Kings
Brandt Clark scored the game-winning goal with six and a half minutes left in the third quarter and the Los Angeles Kings beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 despite trailing 40-14.
The Sharks came back from 3-0 down to tie the game. Darcy Kuemper made 37 saves for the Kings, who ended a five-game road trip with four wins, each by at least one point.
game review
After a back-and-forth first nine minutes or so, the Kings had their first big chance of the game, with some Sharks crossing the ball leading to a turnover and then Timothy Liljegren being tripped. Los Angeles was held scoreless on the power play but controlled the puck in the next few seconds. When Clark’s shot hit the post, a battle ensued in front of the net between Corey Perry and Yaroslav Askarov, which Perry won by knocking the puck over the goal line.
The Sharks ran two power plays the rest of the way — Jeff Malott’s slant and Clark’s high stick — but were unable to capitalize on either one. The Kings cleared most of the Sharks’ zone entries on the former, and while the Sharks were more in sync on their second power play, knocking down four shots, Kuemper kept all of them aside.
Although San Jose dominated much of the early second quarter, it didn’t show on the scoreboard. The Sharks hit 13 of the first 15 shots in the quarter, but the other two were goals by the Kings. On the first play, Los Angeles had the ball deep in its own zone and worked its way around the boards, creating a run that ended with Marott’s wrist shot from the top of the circle.
The second occurred at the end of a long shift, and while the Kings were able to completely convert, the Sharks were not. That put the Sharks out of position and gave Drew Doughty space to drop down and fire a lob for his first goal of the season and his 161st career goal, tying a Kings record for a defender. The Sharks continued to push forward, controlling possession of the puck for most of the quarter. However, they couldn’t get past Kuemper.
They finally broke through the frame in shot 14. San Jose maintained possession after Will Smith missed a shot, and MacLean Celebrini moved the puck around the net before passing it to Smith, who connected on a wide open net. Less than two minutes later, the Sharks scored again with further sustained control and another great downfield pass, this time from Alexander Weinberg to Filip Kurashev, who scored for the first time since the season opener in San Jose. At the end of this quarter, the Kings lead 3-2.
In the third quarter, Marlott’s second free throw of the game allowed the Sharks to attack again. After having some good chances but almost no goals, San Jose tied the game when Marlott returned to the ice. Kurashev returned the favor with a wonderful pass of his own that found the Swedish center. While this is technically an even-strength goal, it’s actually a power-play goal in name only.
Doughty’s penalty gave the Sharks another power play, but despite several fine performances – the best of which came from Michael Misa – they were unable to break through and Kuemper made a number of fine saves. After the game, Misa showed obvious frustration on the bench.
After the Kings were able to create a slightly more sustained possession, they took advantage of a good defensive zone break to get the puck to Adrian Kempe. He hesitated and used his patience to perfectly time a cross-ice puck to Clark, who had room to fire a shot past Askarov’s glove side for the lead.
In the final minutes, San Jose pulled Askarov, brought in an extra skater, and even got a power play thanks to Joel Edmondson’s delayed game penalty. Despite a flurry of shots, none found the back of the net — some were saved by Kuemper, some blocked by the Los Angeles skaters and some missed by the Sharks.
The Kings improved to 5-3-3, while the Sharks fell to 2-6-2. The next games for both teams will be at home on Thursday (October 30), with Los Angeles facing the Detroit Red Wings and San Jose facing the New Jersey Devils.
