3621 W MacArthur Blvd Suite 107 Santa Ana, CA 92704
Toll Free – (844)-500-1351 Local – (714)-604-1416 Fax – (714)-907-1115

Short-handed Kings fall to Sharks in overtime

Rent Computer Hardware You Need, When You Need It

LOS ANGELES –– Having lost three players while having won their last three games, the short-handed Kings scored the second-fastest pair of goals in franchise history on Thursday night but lost to the struggling San Jose Sharks, 4-3, in overtime at Crypto.com Arena.

The trio of Trevor Moore, Phillip Danault and Andreas Athanasiou accounted for all three Kings goals, with Moore setting up two and scoring another while Danault and Athanasiou had a goal and an assist apiece. Jonathan Quick made 26 saves and the Kings blew a 3-1 lead.

Defenseman Jordan Spence made his NHL debut, logging 14:23 and producing two shots on goal. He filled in for the injured Mikey Anderson who, like wingers Brendan Lemieux and Viktor Arvidsson, was considered week-to-week. Defenseman Drew Doughty also missed Thursday’s game with an undisclosed injury, but was deemed day-to-day and participated in the morning skate on a limited basis.

Defenseman Brent Burns, forward Nick Bonino and winger Alexander Barabanov each scored a goal in regulation for San Jose. Barabanov and Burns also assisted on forward Tomas Hertl’s game-winner. Defenseman Erik Karlsson contributed two assists and Hertl added another. Goalie Zach Sawchenko made his second career start, stopping 33 shots in his first NHL victory. Even with the win, the Sharks have a meager three wins in their past 14 games, but they are 2-0 against the Kings this season after taking six out of eight meetings last year.

“It’s a good point considering how sloppily we played,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said, eschewing any excuse about being undermanned. “Let’s move on, let’s fix a few things, a lot of things, and get ready to play again. It’s that time of year where you’ve got to flush it quick and get your game back.”

Hertl dashed the Kings’ hopes 73 seconds into overtime, enticing Quick to overcommit to his left and then wrapping around the back of the net for an uncontested goal to Quick’s right.

In the third period with the score tied, the Kings saw Alex Iafallo’s point-blank follow-up bid denied by Sawchenko. Later, a short-handed two-on-one rush ended when Adrian Kempe fanned on a one-timer toward a gaping net before the puck bounced off his skate and then Sawchenko’s. Iafallo later had a solid opportunity during a power play but failed to score as part of the Kings’ 0-for-4 performance with the extra man on a night when they ceded two power-play goals.

“We took six minors, four in the offensive zone. We overworked some players, under-worked others, there was no rhythm to the game,” McLellan said. “We played right into their hands, their special teams are very good.”

San Jose posted an equalizer 81 seconds into the final frame, when Karlsson’s diagonal pass across the zone was redirected home by Barabanov.

More than half the second period passed without a goal, but each side remedied that in short order during a San Jose power play.

First, the Kings extended their lead with a short-handed tally 10:40 into the second period. Danault collected a turnover, charged ahead in transition, created a rebound, out-worked four Sharks for the puck and slipped it to Moore, who flicked it by the exposed Sawchenko.

But four seconds before that same penalty expired, San Jose clawed back the goal. Forward Jonathan Dahlen’s sharp-angle shot glanced downward off Quick, creating a race to the ice between Quick, his defenseman Matt Roy and San Jose’s Bonino. Bonino dropped down to tap the puck in and draw the Sharks within one.

Around the six-minute mark of the game, the Kings pulled ahead by scoring twice in just eight seconds, the second-fastest pair of goals in franchise history. The only goals in quicker succession were both scored by center Ralph Backstrom in a span of six seconds during a 5-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Nov. 2, 1972.

On Thursday, predictably, it was the Kings’ second line doing the damage.

“(Danault) does it everywhere, I think we all know that by now and (Athanasiou) is a super-talented offensive guy, you give him the puck and it could be a goal at any moment,” Moore said.

First, Athanasiou won an offensive zone faceoff and later his heave to the net created a rebound for Moore, whose nifty backhand pass in tight set up Danault’s tap-in goal.

Related Articles


Kings come home from successful trip full of belief


Alexander: Kings in position to make a big move


Kings avenge ugly loss, rally to beat Bruins in OT


Kings shut out Sabres with spark from Athanasiou


Kings wrap 4-game trip with back-to-back in Buffalo and Boston

Moore also recorded the primary assist on the second goal, on which Athanasiou flung a fluttering puck past Sawchenko from just above the left faceoff circle.

Since the new year, Moore, Danault and the injured Viktor Arvidsson had propelled the Kings offensively. Arvidsson sustained an injury in Buffalo on Sunday, and Athanasiou has picked up the slack. He has racked up four goals and an assist across three games since returning to the lineup after being a healthy scratch.

“He’s been the player we expect him to be,” McLellan said.

San Jose registered the first four shots on goal in the game and its first goal. It was a power-play marker by Burns off a one-timer from the blue line that deflected off forward Adrian Kempe’s stick, rendering the save all but impossible for Quick.

Generated by Feedzy