|
 Right winger Marian Gaborik blew a shot past Sharks goalie Martin
Jones with 53.8 seconds left in overtime after the visitors tied it
with 12.2 seconds left in regulation, and Los Angeles emerged with a
come-from-behind, 3-2 win over San Jose.
"To pull off a win like this, it showed the character of this team
and being resilient and getting timely goals," Kings center Anze
Kopitar said. "We'll certainly take it."
San Jose would have pulled to within six points of first-place Los
Angeles had the Sharks held on to their 2-1 lead late in regulation.
So, even though San Jose gained a point, it was a disappointing end
to a recent 8-0-1 run that included a 4-0-1 showing at home.
"Yeah, it's sucks," Sharks forward Joe Thornton said. "We thought we
had them. But that's hockey, it's a good hockey game, and you can't
hang your heads after a loss like that. We played great, and we'll
get better results in the future."
Los Angeles center Vincent Lecavalier tied the game late in
regulation with his fourth goal of the season, all in nine games
with the Kings after getting traded from the Philadelphia Flyers.
Lecavalier gained body position against Sharks defenseman Brent
Burns, then punched home the puck after left winger Tanner Pearson
tipped right winger Dustin Brown's drive from the corner.
At the time, Los Angeles had its goalie pulled for an extra
attacker.
"It's a great play by Brownie," Lecavalier said. "We actually had
eye contact when he went to the corner. He saw me behind the net
kind of going in front of the net. It was a perfect play. He shot it
between his legs. I was just there at the right time."
Sharks center Logan Couture scored a tiebreaking goal at 11:42 of
the third period that looked as if it might hold up as the
game-winner.
Limited by injury to only 17 games, Couture scored his third goal of
the season at even strength. Rookie left winger Joonas Donskoi won a
battle behind the net with Los Angeles defenseman Jake Muzzin, and
he fed Couture for a one-timer that beat Kings goalie Jhonas Enroth
low to the glove side for a 2-1 lead.
Enroth finished with 30 saves for the win, while Jones made 29
saves.
"It's disappointing right now," Couture said. "You've got a team
like that, you've got a lead late, you've got a couple chances to
get the puck out and you don't. Then they put in the back of your
net."
The Kings (30-15-3) tied the game 1-1 on defenseman Drew Doughty's
power-play goal at 6:30 of the third period. Doughty unleashed a
slap shot from the top of the right circle that beat Jones, who was
screened by Los Angeles center Tyler Toffoli.
Doughty, who has nine goals, drew the penalty when he was roughed in
the neutral zone by Sharks fourth-line right winger Mike Brown.
"We can't take that penalty in the third period," Sharks coach Peter
DeBoer said.
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The Sharks (25-18-4) broke through for the only goal of the opening
40 minutes when right winger Joe Pavelski scored his team-leading
24th at 3:39 of the second period.
Thornton keyed the scoring sequence when he exited the penalty box
after serving a two-minute minor for tripping Pearson. Thornton was
first in the Kings' zone to chase down one final clear on the San
Jose penalty kill.
Thornton won a battle behind the net with Los Angeles defenseman
Christian Ehrhoff, and he tossed the puck from his knees in front to
left winger Tomas Hertl, who with Pavelski had an odd-man situation
against the Kings. Hertl threaded a goalmouth feed to Pavelski, who
one-timed his shot past Enroth.
"First and foremost, we don't want to do that and fall behind,"
Kopitar said. "Over the course of the season, that's going to
happen. It's really nothing special, just sticking to the game plan
and sticking to our game, playing to our strength. It's just
working."
Now nine points behind the Kings, but with points in nine
consecutive games (7-0-2), the Sharks feel as if they are building
the momentum and confidence needed to make a run at Los Angeles.
"There's games left," Pavelski said. "You've got to get the points.
Tonight would have helped, but we'll worry about the next game. It's
one at a time. We're still trying to improve ourselves. and we'll go
from there."
DeBoer added, "They didn't lock up the division tonight that I know
of, did they? We like how we're playing, and we're going to chase
them right to the final buzzer."
NOTES: Los Angeles LW Milan Lucic was suspended for Sunday's game
following his actions in Arizona on Saturday. Lucic earned a game
misconduct for punching Coyotes D Kevin Connauton early in the third
period. Lucic learned of his one-game suspension following a phone
hearing Sunday. He forfeits $32,258.06. ... The Kings host Colorado
on Wednesday in their final game before the All-Star break. ... San
Jose entertains the Avalanche on Tuesday to wind up their
pre-All-Star break schedule. ... C Dainius Zubrus and D Matt
Tennyson were San Jose's healthy scratches, while D Jamie McBain did
not dress for Los Angeles. ... The game drew a sellout crowd of
17,562.
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