Sharks’ Jones frustrates Kings with 42 saves
Another effort to swim with the Sharks left the Kings sleeping with the fishes, as they out-shot San Jose again Wednesday night but were also outscored once more in a 4-2 loss at SAP Center.
San Jose moved to within two points of the Kings, now in sixth place, in the standings. It was just the second time this season that the Sharks won consecutive games, after having captured three straight victories, all in the shootout, between Feb. 5 and Feb. 9.
Left winger Alex Iafallo and forward Adrian Kempe netted goals for the Kings. Defenseman Drew Doughty was active all over the ice and contributed a pair of assists. Cal Petersen got the call in net, making 24 of 28 saves.
Rudolfs Balcers and Tomas Hertl scored for San Jose, while Evander Kane lit the lamp twice.
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Defenseman Brent Burns chipped in with two assists. Former Kings goalie Martin Jones fended off 42 of 44 shots.
Jones, who has been at the center of San Jose’s struggles even dating as far back as their 2019 conference finals run, has been solid of late. In March he has gone 4-1-1, including a 41-save game against the Kings on Monday. He has tormented his former team in general, posting a 16-5-3 career record against it.
While the Sharks won the game, they may have lost their captain, center Logan Couture. He received a shoulder check from the side from forward Jeff Carter and sustained an upper-body injury. He left the ice in pain and missed the final 2:55 of action.
The game unraveled early in the third period for the Kings, despite Kempe’s uncontested goal set up by Doughty’s elusive, mesmerizing weave through the offensive zone, 4:27 into the period.
But the Kings started the third period by allowing two goals in less than a minute and a half.
At the 1:43 mark of the period, Hertl tracked down a loose puck on the right wing and summarily undressed defenseman Sean Walker, as Hertl dipped inside to zip a wrist shot against the grain that went in off Kings winger Andreas Athanasiou.
Eighty-two seconds earlier, the quietly effective pair of Burns and Mario Ferraro — they have logged the most ice time among defensive pairings and mirror Doughty and Mikey Anderson’s effectiveness — went to work. Burns slid the puck to Ferraro, who sent a shot through that was tipped home by Kane for his 14th goal of the year, tying Couture for the team lead.
In the second period, the Kings came to life, briefly, with a goal with just 12 seconds remaining.
Facing pressure, Doughty turned the puck back to the blue line for Dustin Brown, who threaded a pass through traffic that Iafallo tipped skyward past Jones.
The period saw Jones shine again — he fended off an Anze
Kopitar one-timer, Brown’s rapid redirect and other tough chances — and the Sharks come out with strong legs.
If not for some Petersen turning in a solid effort of his own, San Jose might have pulled further away. Petersen made three saves in quick succession, sandwiching a stop on Couture between two on Kane.
But the Sharks tallied twice, one before that string of saves and once after, and both goals came in transition.
Kane flipped the puck past Petersen from the doorstep, the result of a four-on-two rush that gave Petersen little chance at a save with 6:21 remaining in the frame.
Earlier, a sound breakout sent San Jose up ice with speed. The Sharks executed a give-and-go play between forward Marcus Sorensen and Balcers, which a wide-open Balcers finished easily at the right side of the net 2:14 into the period.