Gambrell, Sharks hold off Kings late

The UCLA Bruins weren’t the only Southern California team to lose a squeaker Saturday, as the Kings fell 3-2 to the San Jose Sharks at Staples Center.

Winger Dustin Brown and forward Trevor Moore lit the lamp for the Kings. Jonathan Quick made 20 of 23 saves. He has lost his last four appearances, but also gotten limited support as the Kings scored just six goals total in those contests.

Wingers Kevin Labanc and Evander Kane contributed a goal and an assist each for San Jose before center Dylan Gambrell notched the game-winner. Martin Jones was back in net and stayed busy, facing 37 shots and denying 35.

The Kings missed an opportunity to gain ground not only on San Jose but also fifth-placed St. Louis, who lost in regulation to Colorado on defenseman Cale Makar’s last-minute goal. With 20 games remaining and a five-point deficit to fourth-place Arizona, whom they will face Monday and Wednesday, the playoffs are not yet an abstract notion for the Kings.

“There were a lot of positives in that game, but it’s only a moral victory, the two-point victories are what really counts at this time of the year and we’ve got to find a way to get a few more,” Kings Coach Todd McLellan said.

Despite carrying much of the game and responding effectively to San Jose’s surges, the Kings found themselves trailing by a goal for the third time, 3-2 in the closing stanza, a score that would hold until the final horn.

With 4:37 to play, a failed exchange between defenseman Austin Strand and Quick came off Quick’s stick to left winger John Leonard behind the goal. He promptly slipped the puck in front to Gambrell, who popped it into the gaping, momentarily abandoned net.

The Kings nearly got the go-ahead goal with around seven minutes remaining. Center Anze Kopitar danced through the slot and lured Jones out of position as Kopitar dipped behind the net. He attempted to move the puck back in front for what would have been an uncontested goal, but it eluded him and drifted away from the goal line.

Though the power play was unproductive again for the Kings, they did get a special teams goal, a shorthanded equalizer from their practically impregnable penalty kill. Their PK was perfect once more, and has allowed a solitary goal in the past 13 games. On the counterattack, it produced two dangerous breakaways Friday and a goal Saturday.

“It starts in net. Obviously (we have) two great goalies who help us out a lot when we need it,” Moore said. “We’ve gotten good structure from our coaching staff (and) a lot of blocked shots from our D-men.”

With 54 seconds left in the second period, Moore’s shorty knotted the game at two. He picked Kane’s pocket in the neutral zone, stayed onside alertly and glided toward the goal. En route, he fended off defenseman Brent Burns, who rode him to the net as he pushed a backhand shot toward Jones. Jones was unable to control the rebound completely and Burns failed to stay with Moore, who stuffed the puck past Jones on his forehand.

“You’ve got to get your clears and you have to be solid defensively. The offensive stuff is great when it happens, but you’ve got to only do it when it presents itself,” Moore said.

The middle frame went by without a tally for over 15 minutes, in part because of some timely saves by Quick and three separate strings of multiple stops in succession.

Despite doubling up the Sharks 26-13 on shots on goal, it was the Sharks who reclaimed the lead on play along the wall involving their two leading scorers, Kane and center Logan Couture. Labanc sent the puck to Couture behind the net. As Kane beat two Kings off the wall, Couture placed the puck in front of the net where Kane received his pass, extended his reach and then waited out Quick to sweep the puck in for his 16th goal of the season.

In the opening frame, the Kings followed a familiar script initially and then flipped it entirely as the first period progressed.

After allowing a goal on San Jose’s first shot Friday, they gave up an early goal on their second attempt on net Saturday.

It was Labanc collecting the puck in the slot and pivoting into a snapshot that became a Super Ball in front, bouncing and banking off multiple players on its way across the goal line.

The Kings seized control from there. The goal came with 15:23 left in the stanza, and the Sharks did not record a shot on goal until the clock read 5:31. Over all, the Kings out-shot San Jose 18 to 5 through 20 minutes.

“I thought we were much more aggressive. We stopped their offensive-zone play a lot quicker than we did last night,” McLellan said. “Offensively, we played with a lot more authority along the boards, winning more battles and creating more havoc in and around the net.”

Those 18 shots included a response goal 2:18 after the Sharks scored. It was Brown crashing the net unmolested to redirect home a superb seam pass from the top left corner of the faceoff circle to the right side of the net by Kopitar.

It was Brown’s second goal in his past 10 games, and his first at even strength since Feb. 24, when the Kings last won consecutive games. Brown’s teammates have not been in a rush to catch him: forward Adrian Kempe, who is second on the team in goals, has one goal in his last 11 games.

Kings defenseman Matt Roy missed Saturday’s game after he was added to the NHL’s COVID protocol-related absence list. No further details were given. Kale Clague dressed in his stead, and that meant the Kings were without three of their six regulars on the blue line. Olli Maatta and Tobias Bjornfot were already out of action with upper-body injuries.

Where the Kings were playing lefties on the right side, now they have been forced to play right-handed shots on the left side with southpaws Maatta and Bjornfot sidelined.

“Going in we know that it’s a possibility, to bounce around a little bit,” Clague said. “But if we have lots of talk and good support with each, that makes it a lot easier.”

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