Kings’ OT goal derails Sharks’ chance for sweep
Kings’ OT goal derails Sharks’ chance for sweep
The Sharks’ missed opportunity on the power play came back to haunt them Monday night.
Tanner Pearson scored 3:47 into sudden death as the Los Angeles Kings beat San Jose 2-1 at SAP Center to trim the Sharks’ lead in the best-of-seven series to 2-1.
“The reality is they’re a real good team,” Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said.
San Jose, which led just 30 seconds after the opening faceoff, was stymied the rest of the way, mainly because of a Los Angeles penalty kill that was 5-for-5.
The Sharks managed only four shots on goal during 10 minutes of 5-on-4 skating, and were held without a shot on two third-period opportunities.
“The last one especially,” Sharks forward Joe Thornton lamented about the power play.
Los Angeles forward Dustin Brown separated Joonas Donskoi from the puck, sending the Sharks’ rookie forward hard to the ice in the process.
Brown’s pass sprung Pearson on a 2-on-1, and the left wing beat goalie Martin Jones with a low shot.
Quick stopped Logan Couture’s blast and Donskoi’s follow attempt inside the final two minutes.
[...] we’d like a better fate but both teams played a good hockey game.
Left wing Tomas Hertl benefited from a Milan Lucic turnover, slipped a pass to Thornton, and he moved to the slot and fired a low wrist shot that found its way past Quick.
Anze Kopitar tied it at 8:10 of the first off a cross-ice feed from Lucic.
Jake Muzzin put a shot on goal from the left point that Jones stopped, but the rebound squirted right to Lucic.