LOS ANGELES, CA (BDCi) – Dating back to last round, the Los Angeles Kings have won six straight games. Of those six wins however, only one of them has come on the road. With the Kings holding a two game to none advantage over the San Jose Sharks, the Kings would need to travel to San Jose to see if they could keep the winning streak alive. Would the Kings earn a game three victory and take a pivotal three game to none lead? Or would the Kings allow the Sharks to earn a victory and climb back into their series? Let’s find out!
The San Jose Sharks didn’t waste any time at all as they jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Dan Boyle scored his second goal of the playoffs on a power play just 1:34 into the game. The period would feature wide open action with both teams firing shots left and right as the two teams fired a combined 25 shots. The Kings would battle back to tie it up as rookie Tyler Toffoli scored while shorthanded on a backhanded shot that beat Sharks goalie Antti Niemi blocker side to tie the game up at one.
The Kings opened up the second period on an abbreviated power play, but were unable to capitalize on it as the Sharks were able to kill off the penalty. During the period both goaltenders were rock solid turning aside shot after shot as neither goalie allowed the opposition to get the puck past them. The Kings would be outplayed in the second period as the Sharks would tally 14 shots while the Kings would only get half that amount at seven shots.
In the third period it was a pretty even battle between these two teams as the Kings registered nine shots while the Sharks were able to get 10 shots on Jonathan Quick. For the second straight period though both goalies did not allow the other team to slip the puck behind them and the game went to overtime.
At the end of the third period the Kings had a chance to score but Trevor Lewis crashed into Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi while already on the penalty kill, earning him a goalie interference penalty and putting the Kings on a five on three disadvantage for a little over a minute and twenty seconds.
In the overtime frame the Sharks tried to use the five on three to their advantage, however the Kings were able to clear the puck away and kill off the first penalty. Unfortunately after the Kings got their fourth skate back on the ice, the Sharks use some nifty passing and Logan Couture was able to fire a shot from the slot on a pass from Patrick Marleau to beat Jonathan Quick glove side high to give the Sharks a 2-1 victory and to give them a game three victory.
The Sharks now trail the Kings two games to one in the series and game four will take place on Tuesday night in San Jose where the Kings will look to send the series back to Los Angeles with a 3-1 lead while the Sharks will look to even the series up.
By: Benjamin Robinson
Source: ESPN
May 19, 2012
9:55 a.m. PDT