San Jose Sharks Exorcise Demons, Eliminate Kings in Game Five

With bad memories in mind, the San Jose Sharks went out and exorcised demons, eliminating their archrivals, the Los Angeles Kings, in game five.

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The San Jose Sharks walked into the Staples Center Friday night holding a three games to one advantage in the first-round of the NHL playoffs. They were in the driver’s seat after taking games one, two, and four, with the first two coming on enemy ice. While a three-game lead seems comfortable, the Sharks still had the task of finishing off the Los Angeles Kings, something they couldn’t do in their most recent playoff appearance.

Everyone knows that story by now. The Sharks won the first three games in the best-of-seven series in the 2014 edition of Lord Stanley’s Playoffs. They then failed to close the series in the next four games, two on home ice, watching the Kings clinch their first-round series at the SAP Center en route to winning the Stanley Cup, their second championship in a three-year span.

That will not be the case this year. Playing on the road again, a task that has not been a problem for San Jose this season (they won a franchise-record 28 games away from home during this campaign), San Jose scored six goals, doubling up their biggest rivals while opposing fans could do nothing but watch and boo. With social media boasting their Beat LA hashtags (a staple of Bay Area sports), the Sharks did just that, exorcising some demons left over from that ultra-disappointing 2014 series.

San Jose wasted no time putting the scoreboard operator to work, as Joonas Donskoi beat Kings’ goalie Jonathan Quick just one minute and eight seconds into the game. For Donskoi, it marked the rookie’s first career playoff goal. The lead was padded about 10 minutes of game-time later, when Chris Tierney earned his way onto the statsheet by beating Quick also. Like his teammate Donskoi, it was Tierney’s first playoff goal, as well as his first career point. After the first 20 minutes, San Jose was looking at the happy side of a 2-0 score.

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The Sharks further padded their lead four minutes into the second period. Matt Nieto, in his second Stanley Cup Playoffs, snuck a deflected Joel Ward shot through Quick’s five-hole, pushing the lead to three less than halfway through the game.

After working so hard to put themselves in good position, the Sharks’ demons reared their ugly heads in that second period. Seven minutes and 44 seconds into the period, the Kings erased the zero from their side of the score. Anze Kopitar tipped in Drew Doughty‘s long, deflected shot, putting some pressure on the Sharks. Less than four minutes later, Jeff Carter scored on a perfect set-up from Jake Muzzin. In nearly the blink of an eye, San Jose’s comfortable three-goal edge was shaved to one.

It wasn’t over at that point. Another five minutes had passed when Kris Versteeg beat Shark’s goalie Martin Jones and deadlocked the score at three apiece. Those visions, all the bad memories of playoffs past, began to creep back into fan’s minds. To their credit, the Sharks dug in their heels and didn’t allow the Kings’ momentum to carry them to a lead. The second period ended with each team having three goals.

The third period saw that momentum take a huge swing again. Less than four minutes into the final frame, Donskoi beat Quick again after getting a picture perfect set-up pass from Brent Burns. Joe Pavelski, that weaselly Sharks’ captain, brought the lead back to two with under eight minutes to go with his fifth goal of the series, going top shelf to get past Quick. An empty-netter from Melker Karlsson (also his first career playoff goal and points) with 22 seconds to play was the final nail in the Kings’ coffin.

The Sharks are moving onto the second round for the 12th time in franchise history, but are still unsure of which team they will be facing. The first-seeded Anaheim Ducks and the Nashville Predators are tied after four games in their series, and the winner will match up with San Jose in round two. If Nashville advances, San Jose will have home-ice advantage in the series.

Next: Sharks Hold on to Take 3-1 Series Lead

The Ducks-Predators series continues on Saturday, with game five being played in Anaheim. Game six is on Monday in Nashville. Game seven, if necessary, will take place on Wednesday in Anaheim.

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