On paper, Tuesday nights Sharks match up with
the Los Angeles Kings favored the guests from Southern California. San Jose
hasn't been exactly lighting it up and their first win of the year less than 24
hours earlier on the road setup a tall order for the Sharks. The Kings hadn't
played since Saturday and sit in the 5th spot in the Western Conference. So go
figure when the Sharks outplayed the Kings in the 3rd period and sweated out a
4-2 victory to extend their win streak to two games.
If the Sharks
have finally turned a corner on their dismal start to the season, the last two
games have been nothing if not entertaining. San Jose played a controlled game
for the most part, although they still need to clamp down defensively after
scoring.
On this night anyway, winning has become contagious and the
Sharks are enjoying their new found success.
San Jose enjoyed a pair
of power play chances in the first 5 minutes of the contest, but they could do
nothing with the advantage. The Kings would take their turn on the power play,
albeit for almost 4 consecutive minutes after Luke Kunin and Jake Walman took
minor penalties 1:53 apart.
Neither team would score in the opening
frame and both teams were credited with 8 shots on goal.
Coming off
his 3 assist night in Utah, Jake Walman scored his first goal as a Shark 2:19
into the 2nd period. The defenseman collected a Nico Sturm feed near the
blueline between the circles and cranked a shot that beat goaltender David
Rittich just inside the right post for the 1-0 lead.
One glaring hole
in the Sharks game is their lack of detail after scoring a goal. They've
allowed opposing teams to score too easily after scoring themselves. Case in
point 58 seconds after Walman's goal, the Kings forced the issue in front of
the Sharks net and put one past Vitek Vanecek.
The goal came courtesy
of Akil Smith, who was in the right place at the right time. Brandt Clarke
skated toward Vanecek from the right point, then fired a shot that was stopped
but the puck deflected to Smith who was lurking near the left post. The Kings
forward swept home the loose puck for his 1st goal of the season.
The
Kings went on the offensive, aided by 3 Shark minors penalties in the period.
They would out-shoot the Sharks 19-6 in the period. Their biggest chance came
when Tanner Jeannot found himself with the puck in the slot, staring down
Vanecek. Jeannot's shot attempt was denied by Vanecek's left pad to keep the
game tied.
Fabian Zetterlund gave the Sharks the 2-1 lead 6:25
in to the 3rd period. The Swedish forward raced up the right wing before
winding up on a shot that beat Rittich low glove side. That was Zetterlund's
3rd goal in the last two games.
Once again, the Sharks allowed the
Kings to counter immediately. Ian Laferriere converted from 12 feet out on a
Warren Foegele feed at 8:52.
Former King Tyler Toffoli helped San Jose
reclaim the lead with 8:52 to play by scoring his 6th of the year. The Sharks
forward gathered a Walman feed before cutting through the slot and skating past
Rittich before depositing a backhand chance around teh outstretched netminder.
William Eklund added an empty net goal late to cap the game's scoring.
Game Notes: * Right winger Ethan Cardwell made his NHL
debut for the Sharks on Tuesday night. Cardwell will wear #56. Several San Jose
Barracuda players made their way to the end board glass during warm ups to show
support for Cardwell who was called up from the Sharks AHL affiliate earlier in
the day.
* Cardwell got his name on the score sheet in his NHL debut
by taking an interference penalty with 12 seconds remaining in the contest.
* Jake Walman has recorded 6 points in less that 24 hours. After his 3
assist night in Utah on Monday, Walman added a goal and 2 assists in the win
over the Kings.
* Mikael Granlund's 7-game points scoring streak and
4-game goal scoring streak snapped. Fabian Zetterlund extended his point
scoring streak to 3 games and his goal scoring streak to 2 games.
*
San Jose was held to 21 shots in the game. Los Angeles recorded 18 shots in the
2nd period alone. Tyler Toffoli led the Sharks with 4 shots on goal.
