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No revenge at Staples
Center Sharks blow three leads before falling in
overtime
It's no secret that wining division games is
important. Beating your biggest rival goes deeper. When that rival bounced you
from the playoffs the previous season, you'd like to see some blood. San Jose
had multiple chances to close out their 5-game road trip with two points by
beating the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on Wednesday night, but their
playoff nemesis from last spring overcame three deficits and defeated the
Sharks with an Anze Kopitar goal in overtime.
* Kopitar's goal came
courtesy of a 4-on-3 power play that was setup with by a Justin Braun hooking
penalty 53 seconds into the extra frame. Braun was forced to hook Jeff Carter,
after the Kings forward slip past him on the way to the net. Kopitar rifled a
shot from the point that tucked inside the left post to end the contest.
* The most disappointing part of San Jose's performance was their
inability to protect a lead. The Sharks had one-goal leads on three separate
occasions, but allowed the Kings to tie the score each time. San Jose would
blow their last lead of the game with 7:39 remaining in regulation after
committing their second too many men on the ice infraction of the game. Making
that mistake twice in a game is inconceivable, and inevitably turned out to be
a back breaker.
* The Sharks kicked things off on a positive note,
scoring just 13 seconds into the game. Marc-Edouard Vlasic pinched on after San
Jose worked the puck into the Kings zone. Logan Couture floated a pass to the
slot from the right wing boards, where Vlasic one-timed it over Jonathan Quick
for the quick 1-0 lead.
* Drew Doughty tied the game two minutes after
Vlasic's goal. The Kings pushed the puck deep, creating a load of traffic in
front of Antti Niemi before the puck kicked out to Doughty in the high slot for
a slapper that slithered through traffic.
* Joe Pavelski converted on
a turnover by the Kings in their own zone midway through the 1st period,
scoring his 5th of the season from in tight.
* Jarrett Stoll tipped in
a Slava Voynov shot early in the 2nd period, allowing the Kings to tie the game
for the second time.
* A goaltender interference penalty on Kyle
Clifford gave the Sharks a power play chance that they would convert on late in
the 2nd period. Couture scored on the power play passing sequence which was
text book. Jason Demers and Patrick Marleau tee'd up the goal with a pair of
tic-tac-toe passes that ended with Couture one-timing a chance from the slot.
* Andrew Desjardins just missed a goal after his shot late in the 2nd
period squeezed past Quick, but the Kings goaltender got enough of the puck to
steer into the post.
* Joe Thornton saved a would be goal by LA early
in the 3rd period, using his long wingspan to reach out and block a shot after
Antti Niemi made a save, but left one half of the goal exposed. Dustin Brown
tried to jam the loose puck home, but Thornton denied him to preserve San
Jose's 3-2 lead.
* Martin Havlat made his 2013 debut, finally coming
off the injured reserve after having surgery to repair a sports hernia during
the off season. Havlat skates 19 shifts, logging 14:01 of ice time, while being
credited with a pair of hits and a blocked shot. He recorded no shots on goal.
* Speaking of hits, the Kings laid 46 hits on San Jose
skaters, choosing to take the physical approach to getting the Sharks off their
game. Stuart appeared to be a target of choice for Kings forecheckers. The
constant pounding added to Stuarts frustrating night. He coughed the puck up
twice at the start of the overtime period to setup two quality scoring chances
for the Kings.
* The Sharks also did a poor job of controlling the
puck off the face off. San Jose won a paltry 37% of their draws, which
contributed to the miniscule 3 shots they had on goal in the 3rd period. You
can't score if you don't control the puck.
* San Jose also committed
an uncharacteristically high 6 minor penalties in the game. The NHL's 3rd
ranked penalty kill unit surrendered 2 power play goals on those 6 chances.
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
SJ |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
LA |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
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1st period - 1, SJ,
Vlasic 3 (Couture, Kennedy), 0:13. 2, LA, Doughty 4 (Williams), 2:32. 3, SJ,
Pavelski 5 (Wingels), 11:27. |
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2nd period - 4, LA,
Stoll 2 (Voynov, Brown), 3:15. 5, SJ, Couture 2 (Marleau, Demers), 18:04,
(pp). |
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3rd period - 6, LA,
Williams 5 (Kopitar, Richards), 12:21, (pp). |
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Overtime - 7, LA,
Kopitar 2 (Doughty, Richards), 2:32, (pp). |
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1st period - Irwin, SJ
(interference), 7:04; Brown, SJ (fighting major), 12:11; Clifford, LA (fighting
major), 12:11; Pavelski, SJ (hooking), 13:21; Williams, LA (slashing), 14:13;
Mitchell, LA (interference), 18:18. |
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2nd period - Bench, SJ
(too many men), 13:39; Clifford, LA (goaltender interference), 17:22. |
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3rd period - Wingels, SJ
(goaltender interference), 4:36; Bench, SJ (too many men), 12:00; Carcillo, LA
(boarding), 14:30. |
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Overtime - Braun, SJ
(hooking), 0:53. |
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Shots |
Saves |
SJ - Niemi |
23 |
19 |
LA - Quick |
20 |
17 |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
OT |
T |
SJ |
9 |
8 |
3 |
0 |
20 |
LA |
8 |
3 |
8 |
4 |
23 |
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Referees: Kozari,
L'Ecuyer. Linesmen: Cvik, Nansen. |
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