Sharks Take Step Back Against Kings, Lose 5-2
March 16, 2013; Los Angeles, CA, USA; San Jose Sharks center Tommy Wingels (57) stick breaks as Los Angeles Kings center Tyler Toffoli (73) and defenseman Alec Martinez (27) defend during the second period at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
The San Jose Sharks (12-9-6) fell to the Los Angeles Kings (15-10-2) by the final of 5-2 completing the home-and-home series with each team winning their home game.
These teams will face each other two more times before the end of the regular season.
After playing a pretty good game against the Kings on home ice the Sharks follow it up by playing pretty badly in Los Angeles. They did not get off to a fast start and in the end it killed them. They had to know the Kings would be looking for some sort of repemption after from the game a couple days ago and the Kings showed it right from the start. The Sharks did not.
In the first period the Sharks came out flat and from there were never able to recover. In fact they did not get their first shot on goal until 11 minutes into the period. On the other hand the Kings got off to a fast start and scored just two minutes and 27 seconds into the game on a one-timer from Kyle Clifford.
Later on Justin Williams scores on an unfortunate bounce where the puck bounced off of Brad Stuart and into the net, and just like that Los Angeles was up 2-0.
In the second the Sharks got a shot of life when Patrick Marleau scored just 35 seconds into the period cutting the Kings lead in half. Joe Thornton and Brent Burns picked up the assists on the goal.
Shortly afterward Tommy Wingels earned a penalty shot after his had his stick slashed in half on a breakway, but he was stopped by Bernier and that pretty much ended San Jose’s burst of energy to start the period.
Midway through the period, in a span of two and a half minutes, the Los Angeles Kings scored twice on goals by both Jarret Stoll and Kyle Clifford who scored his second goal of the game. Also at that point Niemi had been pulled in favor of Alex Stalock who made his second appearance this season.
Then, the Kings scored one more time in the period when Dwight King was found wide open in the slot and fired a shot that beat Stalock to give them a 5-1 lead over San Jose.
It seemed Los Angeles was content with their lead at that point because during the third period not much happened, although all the minor penalties that occurred during the game were called in the period. The Sharks ended up scoring on one of them with less than a minute left when defenseman Matt Irwin fired a slap shot from the point that beat a screened Jonathan Bernier. The goal was too little, too late though with the Kings getting the final laugh and the 5-2 victory.
My 3 Stars
1. Kyle Clifford (2 goals)
2. Jarret Stoll (1 goal, 1 assist)
3. Trevor Lewis (2 assists)