The Sharks out-classed the Los Angeles Kings
on Tuesday night at SAP Center. They out-shot the Kings 41-14. They controlled
the puck the majority of the night and had the Kings on the ropes. All of that
meant nothing to a Sharks team that allowed a road weary Kings squad grab a 3-0
lead, then hold on for an unfair 4-3 win. It was one of a thousand rough
lessons that the young Sharks had to live through as they try to work back to
competitiveness.
It was another tough outcome for a team that has had
to endure more than their share of rough losses the last five seasons. It's
been ages since San dominated a team like they did on Tuesday. There was energy
in the building and hope.
Early on, the Sharks looked like a team that
just returned from a 4-game road trip. Later on, the visiting Los Angeles Kings
looked like a team struggling to wrap up a 5-game road trip. Both teams were
sluggish, just on different ends of the game.
The Kings utilized a soft
tripping penalty on Timothy Liljegren to manufacture the 1st goal of the game.
Corey Perry swept a loose puck home after Brandt Clarke put a puck on net. The
puck slipped past goaltender Yaroslav Askarov and Perry spotted it while
standing just outside the left post. The puck crossed the goal line after
Liljegren's penalty expired, so the Kings were not credited with a power play
goal even though it came on an advantage in man power.
The Sharks
would enjoy a pair of power play chances after Jeff Malott and Brandt Clarke
took penalties 4 minutes apart. They would generate noting on their first
chance, then put 4 shots on Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper but nothing in the
back of the net.
San Jose opened the 2nd period with some jump in
their step but Kuemper was up to the task. The Sharks were out-shooting the
Kings 9-2 just 7 minutes into the frame, but both Kings shots evaded Askarov.
Jeff Malott steamed up the right side at 3:21 before whipping a shot
that caught the underside of the crossbar before finding twine for his 2nd goal
of the season.
Defenseman Drew Doughty threw a puck into a crowd 3
minutes later from the right dot, elevating it over Askarov's left shoulder for
a 3-0 Kings lead. All the Sharks hard work netted them nothing but an up hill
battle before the midpoint of the game.
All the hard work by the
sharks finally started to pay dividends late in the period. First Will Smith
one-timed an insane 50-foot no-look pass by Macklin Celebrini through the low
slot from the right corner. Smith was parked near the bottom of the left circle
where he launched his shot past Kuemper.
Third line forward Philipp Kurashev made it a 3-2
game with his 2nd goal of the season at 17:16 to revive the crowd before the
2nd intermission. Alexander Wennberg made a pass to rival Celebrini'c feed to
Smith, with a helper that he wrapped around Doughty to a cutting Kurashev.
Kuemper made a last ditch effort to cut off Kurashev's angle but it was too
late to deny the Russian forward.
The Sharks pulled a trick out of the
Kings bag by scoring immediately after a penalty expired. This came 4:48 into
the 3rd period after Malott was sent off for holding Vincent Desharnais.
Wennberg lifted a shot from the left dot.
Clarke helped Los Angeles
reclaim the lead at 13:20 of the 3rd period by snapping a shot on the fly from
the right dot that Askarov simply missed. The goal was the Kings 4th on only 14
shots in the contest up that point.
The Sharks pulled Askarov with
2:00 left in regulation for the extra attacker. San Jose had plenty of looks,
especially when Joel Edmundson lofted a puck ten rows behind the Sharks bench
for a delay of game penalty.
Tyler Toffoli had the tie in his hands
when he gathered a rebound 10 feet out and squared up to Kuemper. His shot
sailed wide right of the net, ending San Jose's bid to extend their win streak
to 2 games for the first time this season.
Game Notes:
* The game was the last of 16 games in the league on Tuesday night as part of
the NHL's Frozen Frenzy Night. National television broadcast partner ESPN aired
three games including the Sharks - Kings match-up and offered periodic looks at
all games on the ESPN app.
* Defenseman John Klingberg made his return
to the lineup after missing the last 6 games with a lower body issue. Blueliner
Nick Leddy was placed on the injured reserve, retroactive to October 23rd.
* Tyler Toffoli skated in his 900th career NHL game. Ironically it
came against the team that drafted him.
* The Kings are 43-0-0 all
time against San Jose when staked with a 3-0 lead. They earned this one the
hard way by letting San Jose tie the game at 3-3.
* The game also
marked the start of the Hockey Fights Cancer campaign across the NHL.
