The Los Angeles Kings exploded for a three-goal second period to overwhelm the host San Jose Sharks on Saturday night, 4-2.
With a 1-1 tie going into the second period, Los Angeles forward Andreas Athanasiou redirected a pass from Jeff Carter that bounced over San Jose netminder Martin Jones’ shoulder to put the Kings up 2-1 just 2:28 in. Alex Iafallo followed that up 55 seconds later with a backhanded shot to put Los Angeles up 3-1 at the 3:23 marker.
The Sharks had two opportunities on the power play after that but couldn’t capitalize. The Kings subsequently had two power-play opportunities and Dustin Brown found the back of the net on the second chance to put Los Angeles up 4-1 before the second intermission.
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Carter found the back of the net in the first period and Jonathan Quick made 26 saves as the Kings closed out their season series with the Sharks.
Dylan Gambrell and Timo Meier scored goals for San Jose as Jones made 15 saves through two periods of play. Josef Korenar, making his NHL debut, stopped all seven shots he faced in the third after Jones was pulled.
Both teams had five opportunities on the power play and each only scored one goal with the man advantage.
The Kings gained momentum in the first period after successfully killing off their first penalty of the evening. Carter came out of the penalty box and posted up in front of San Jose’s net at the perfect time to tap in a shot from Mikey Anderson and put Los Angeles up 1-0.
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San Jose evened up the playing field with 3:06 left in the frame when Quick lost control of the puck after John Leonard’s shot, and Gambrell buried the rebound. The 1-1 tie carried into the first intermission.
Desperately trying to close the 4-1 score gap in the third period, Meier found the back of the net on a Sharks’ power play to make it 4-2 with 7:29 left in regulation.
–Field Level Media