Kings excel in all areas, defeat Sharks

We may want to include a note about Jack Campbell starting 11-0-0, first time in NHL history a goalie has done that (former Kings goalie now plays with the Toronto Maple Leafs). Up to you entirely. Thanks

On the 39th anniversary of the comeback known as the Miracle on Manchester, the Kings sought to raise their playoff hopes from the dead and exorcise a demon in the process.

They did so, defeating the San Jose Sharks 4-2 and chasing goalie Martin Jones from the game at SAP Center Saturday.

San Jose had won the five previous showdowns and six or seven this season, but it was the Kings excelling in all areas. They scored three even-strength goals, one on the power play and also killed four of five penalties. They also showed the finish that had been lacking of late, especially against San Jose.

“It’s a little bit crazy how many chances we’ve had: empty nets we’ve missed and hit posts. That’s just the way it goes sometimes and you just have to work yourself out of it,” winger Andreas Athanasiou said. “That’s what we did tonight, we stuck with it and those bounces went our way.”

Saturday’s slate of games featured just one other West Division matchup, in which the St. Louis Blues defeated the Minnesota Wild in overtime. St. Louis has won three straight to move into the final playoff spot, six points ahead of the Kings, three in front of San Jose and one above Arizona.

“We all see the standings, we know what’s ahead of us. It’s the perfect time to get hot,” Athanasiou said. “You never know with the way the structure this year and every team playing each other so much.”

Wingers Jeff Carter, Athanasiou, Alex Iafallo and Dustin Brown scored for the Kings. Jonathan Quick turned away 26 of 28 shots.

Center Dylan Gambrell and winger Timo Meier notched a goal apiece for San Jose. Jones, playing on a back-to-back in part because the Sharks traded his backup Devan Dubynk to Colorado Saturday, made just 15 of 19 saves before exiting the game at the second intermission.

The Kings could hit cruise control a bit in the third period, and for the first half they limited San Jose’s push, coming up with a relative stalemate. But with 7:22 to play, the Sharks power play broke through on its fifth opportunity.

Defenseman Brent Burns dropped to one knee to one-time a shot into the slot, where a curling match broke out with six players sweeping their sticks and swiping at the puck. It was Meier who eventually controlled it and slipped it past Quick.

During the second stanza, the Kings put together a two-on-none rush, a partial breakaway and other chances that kept Jones on his toes, and then they extended their lead eight seconds showing on the clock.

Brown corralled the puck in the defensive zone. He zoomed along the right wing, fumbling the puck slightly, and read that Jones was cheating to his right for a play to the middle. Brown let fly with a wrist shot that beat Jones to the short side for his Kings-leading 16th goal and ninth power-play goal, also tops on the team.

The Kings had already broken the game open in the second period with two goals in under a minute, and on very similar plays.

Center Anze Kopitar glided along the right wing wall just above the faceoff circle where he centered the puck to Iafallo in the same spot from which Athanasiou had just scored. Rather than a redirection or one-timer, Iafallo, who had snuck off the bench undetected, employed hesitation, gliding across the goal crease then transitioning to his backhand to finish on the opposite side of the net.

It was Iafallo’s 11th goal of the season, and as a pending free agent he has received attention ahead of Monday’s trade deadline. McLellan seemed to imply that he didn’t expect the Kings to be sellers at the deadline.

“Last year … at that point, everybody was on pins and needles. I think it was well-known that our management team was going to move some players,” McLellan said. “This year, it’s a much more stable situation.”

Fifty five seconds earlier, the Kings had regained the lead.

Carter held the puck just above the right faceoff circle, and he centered it for a deflection to the left side of the net by Athanasiou. It was Athanasiou’s ninth goal in 31 games; last year he scored 11 goals across 55 games split between Detroit and Edmonton.

“Carts made a perfect pass. I just had to tap it in. All five guys, I think we all touched the puck at one point on that shift,” Athanasiou said.

In the first period, the Sharks got a puck behind Quick that he found in the nick of time, engineered a tip from the high slot that he cast aside and hit a post. But another such awkward play got them their first goal.

The puck was caught in Quick’s equipment but not frozen, and while the officials hesitated to blow the play dead, the puck came free. It was popped past Quick by Gambrell with 3:06 left in the period.

McLellan said he was satisfied with the Kings’ defensive aboutface.

“In the first period we gave up two outnumbered ones that were of any significance and one in the second,” he said. “Last night, we gave up a boatload.”

The Kings who were able to get on the scoreboard first for the second straight night. At the 11:43 mark of the opening frame, the Kings got it done by any means necessary with an aggressive if not clean entry and then a gritty goal.

Defenseman Mikey Anderson’s shot from the point eluded the vision of Jones, who left a rebound that Carter glided toward and pushed over the goalline. It was his eighth goal of the year and his second in three games after going 15 matches with a solitary goal.

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