San Jose Sharks Hold on to Beat Kings, Take 3-1 Series Lead

The San Jose Sharks held on to beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 in game four of their first-round series, taking a 3-1 series lead.

In the first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the San Jose Sharks, as we all have painfully had to re-visit these past couple weeks, blew a 3-0 series lead, dropping four straight to the Los Angeles Kings. To pour some salt on the wound, the Kings went on to win the Stanley Cup that year.

So when the Sharks went up 3-0 on a Patrick Marleau backhand goal just one minute and 40 seconds into the third period, the attitude was different. This Sharks’ team is different. They are ready to win their third game in this best-of-seven and then put away the Kings in game five at the Staple Centers. The past is the past. This year is the Sharks’ year. Just over one minute later, Trevor Lewis scored for the Kings to make it a 3-1 deficit. Shake it off, right?

Four minutes after that, Luke Schenn buried another goal to make it 3-2 Sharks with just over 13 minutes left, more then enough time inflict further damage. And just like that, after being ready to put LA in the rearview mirror, the demons of the 2014 debacle began to return. “FINISH THEM!” turned into the all so familiar “Please don’t choke.”

Choke, they didn’t. Martin Jones locked down the crease. His guys in front of him put the pressure on Los Angeles, making it difficult near the end to muster up multiple chances. In a key play towards the end, Marc-Edouard Vlasic blocked a shot with his body with just under 20 seconds remaining. And when that final horn sounded with zero seconds left, a collective exhale could be heard all across the Bay Area.

The win put the Sharks up 3-1 in a best-of-seven series against the Kings, with one more victory needed to advance to the next round. Game five will be Friday night in the Staples Center, where San Jose took the first two games of the series to put themselves with a 2-0 lead.

All three of San Jose’s goals came off of the power play, a welcome sight after going 0-for-5 with the man advantage in game three, their lone loss of the series. After an action filled first period which resulted in no goals for either side, Brent Burns put San Jose up 1-0 with a power play goal two minutes and nine seconds into the second period, giving San Jose the lead for the third game in a row. Just seven minutes later, Joe Thornton worked his magic behind the net, and put the puck on the tape of Joe Pavelski‘s stick, who buried the shot to put San Jose up two goals. That gave the captain his fourth goal of the series. The aforementioned Marleau, a former captain of the team, scored his first goal of the series, assisted by Burns and Logan Couture. The SAP Center, blistering with “Beat LA” chants all throughout the night, was in top form and as loud as it’s been in a long time.

Next: Sharks Take the First Bite in LA

In a best-of-seven, a team needs the fourth win to advance, something the Sharks know all too well. To be frank, hoisting the Stanley Cup in June would probably be the only way in which the heartbreak of the 2014 playoffs would be completely erased from our memories. However, getting win number four against the Kings and sending them packing while the Sharks move on would surely make 2014 a lot easier to forget about. San Jose hopes to get that done in game five on Friday.