Good start not enough for Sharks as Kings win 3-1
Joe Pavelski scored 2½ minutes into the game Saturday, but instead of picking up where they left off last time they played the Kings, the Sharks did little else right and lost 3-1 at Staples Center.
Anze Kopitar and Jake Muzzin scored power-play goals, Jonathan Quick made 21 saves and the Kings got revenge for the 4-0 loss the Sharks inflicted at Staples on Oct. 8, dampening their championship bannerraising ceremony.
Tyler Toffoli also scored in the defending Stanley Cup champions’ third victory in four games. The Kings gave a dominant defensive effort in their NHL lead-tying 14th home win.
“They were the better team the whole night,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. “We were beat in special teams, and that was evident, but there’s much more to it than that. The grinding part of the game, we were beaten at as well. They were better on the walls. They were better at taking time and space away, and their forecheck was better.”
With the Sharks losing in regulation for just the second time since Nov. 26, the Kings pulled even with San Jose in second place in the Pacific Division standings.
Kopitar said the Kings’ attack deserved much of the credit. “Everybody says the best defense is offense, anyway,” said Kopitar, who had a goal and an assist on the power play. “You keep the puck to yourself, and that’s the best thing to do.”
Los Angeles has scored a power-play goal in five straight games.
Pavelski put the Sharks ahead just 2:39 in, capitalizing on a turnover by JustinWilliams and a pass from Joe Thornton for a shot that barely trickled past Quick. It was a last hurrah.
“We weren’t very disciplined in a lot of areas,” Pavelski said. “We gave up a lot of odd-man rushes and took a lot of penal- ties, things we haven’t been doing lately when we were winning.”
Rangers 3, Devils 1: Derek Stepan scored a pair of special-teams goals and completed a hat trick into an empty net, Henrik Lundqvist made 19 saves in his 600th NHL contest, and host New York won its eighth consecutive game, spoiling the debut of the New Jersey Devils’ revamped coaching staff. ... The Devils replaced the fired Pete DeBoer with a three-headed coaching staff. Former Capitals coach Adam Oates, ex-Devils assistant and star defenseman Scott Stevens and general manager Lou Lamoriello will split duties on the bench. Lamoriello said there will be no official head
coach for the rest of the season.
Jets 4, Wild 3: Andrew Ladd scored a fluky goal in overtime for visiting Winnipeg, which is 4-1-1 in its past six games after dealing Minnesota its fifth loss in a row. ... Bleeding from a high stick to the face, Ladd fired a shot from the slot that went high over the Minnesota net, but bounced hard off the glass, ricocheted off the top of the net and then off the back of goalie John Curry before falling into the net.
Capitals 3, Penguins 0: Goaltender Braden Holtby stopped 31 shots in his third shutout of the season as Washington defeated host Pittsburgh for the first time in nine games since January 2012. Eric Fehr scored two goals for the Capitals. ... The loss ended the Penguins’ five-game home winning streak. The loss was their third in a row overall.
Coyotes 2, Ducks 1: Shane Doan scored the only goal in the shootout with a broken stick for host Arizona in its victory over Anaheim, and Devan Dubnyk stopped 36 shots.
Blackhawks 5, Avalanche 2: Patrick Kane scored twice and Corey Crawford
stopped 23 shots, leading visiting Chicago to a 5-2 win that ended Colorado’s three-game win streak.
Stars 4, Blues 3: Second-period power-play goals by Trevor Daley and Jason Demers helped visiting Dallas hand St. Louis its fourth loss in a row.
RedWings 3, Senators 2: Gustav Nyquist scored at 4:12 of overtime and Detroit defeated host Ottawa. ... Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard made 31 saves in regulation and stopped Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson on a breakaway early in the overtime period to help keep the game tied.
Predators 4, Flyers 1: ColinWilson scored two goals for Nashville in a home victory that ended Philadelphia’s three-game winning streak. ... Lightning 2, Hurricanes 1: Ben Bishop made 25 saves for host Tampa Bay in a victory over Carolina in his return from a four-game absence because of a lower body injury.
Blue Jackets 6, Bruins 2: Kevin Connauton had a goal and two assists and host Columbus scored four times in the second period to beat Boston. ... Scott Hartnell scored the Blue Jackets’ first two goals.
Sabres 4, Islanders 3: Tyler Ennis scored in the shootout and host Buffalo ended a three-game losing streak, overcoming a 3-0 deficit and handing New York its second loss in a row. ... John Tavares scored twice for the Islanders.
Flames 4, Oilers 1: Rookie Johnny Gaudreau‘s two goals, 16 seconds apart in the first period, Calgary to victory in Edmonton.