Three-goal surge by Kings ends losing streak to Sharks
SAN JOSE — Andreas Athanasiou, Alex Iafallo and Dustin Brown scored in the second period and the Kings beat the San Jose Sharks 4-2 on Saturday night.
Jeff Carter also scored and Jonathan Quick made 26 saves as the Kings ended a five-game losing streak to the Sharks and beat San Jose for just the second time in eight meetings this season.
Dylan Gambrell and Timo Meier scored for the Sharks, who trail St. Louis by four points for the fourth and final playoff spot from the West Division. The Kings are six points behind the Blues, with Arizona also above L.A. in the standings.
Martin Jones came in 195-3 in his career — including 6-1 this season — against his former team but gave up four goals on 19 shots through two periods. Josef Korenar stopped all seven shots he faced in the third in his NHL debut.
With the score 1-1 after the first period, Athanasiou and Iafallo scored 55 seconds apart early in the second, and then Brown beat Jones for a power play goal with 7.8 seconds left in the period to give the Kings a 4-1 cushion.
Jones’ strong play was the driving force behind San Jose’s recent push that has propelled the team into the playoff hunt. But Jones perhaps showed a bit of fatigue Saturday in his seventh consecutive start, and defensive lapses by his teammates didn’t help.
Carter scored his eighth goal at 11:43 of the first to give the Kings a 1-0 lead. But the Sharks evened the score five minutes later on Gambrell’s goal.
The opportunity for Korenar to get called up came after the Sharks traded backup goalie Devan Dubnyk to Colorado earlier Saturday.
Dubnyk, 34, had been strongly rumored as a trade candidate, and he provides insurance to the Avalanche.