Kings sweep aside Sharks
Team wins all three against San Jose for first time. Byfield sets the tone for victory.
Quinton Byfield had a goal and an assist, Gabe Vilardi and Drew Doughty scored in the third period, and the Kings beat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
Adrian Kempe also had a goal, Pheonix Copley make 26 saves, and the Kings won their third straight game while improving to 10-2-1 in their past 13. They moved into a tie with Vegas for the Pacific Division lead with 56 points, though the Golden Knights have played three fewer games.
The victory also gave the Kings a season sweep (3-0-0) of the Sharks for the first time in franchise history.
“When you’re not playing your best, it’s nice to find a way to win,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “I think a couple years ago we wouldn’t have won that game when we’re not playing our best. Now we can truly evaluate it and admit when we’re not the best, and try and fix it.”
Timo Meier had a goal and an assist, and Alexander Barabanov and Nick Bonino also scored. James Reimer had 33 saves.
Vilardi alertly redirected Sean Durzi’s shot from the left point to put the Kings ahead 3-2 with 7:20 to go in the third period. Vilardi reached the 30-point milestone for the first time, but McLellan has been even more impressed with his other contributions.
“If Gabe didn’t score for four or five games a couple years ago, I’m not sure that we would appreciate his game that much,” McLellan said. “... I’m extremely happy that Gabe’s become a complete player.”
Doughty finished off an odd-man rush with 6:27 left for the 4-2 advantage.
“We had the foot down a few times, and we kind of let off a little bit,” Byfield said. “... But there was a couple good shifts we put forward there, and some real nice plays on those goals to get us the lead, and that’s the way we got to play the game.”