Martin Jones, Sharks stifle Kings again

Another effort to swim with the Sharks left the Kings sleeping with the fishes, as they out-shot San Jose again but were also outscored once more, 4-2, on Wednesday night at SAP Center.

San Jose moved to within two points of the Kings, who have lost five of their past seven and are now in sixth place in the West division after playing three games in four days. It was just the second time this season that the Sharks won consecutive games – they won three straight, all via shootout, between Feb. 5 and Feb. 9.

“This was a series that I really believed we could win and I believed that we could out-play them,” Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. “We did at times but we just didn’t get the job done.”

Left winger Alex Iafallo and forward Adrian Kempe netted a goal apiece for the Kings. Doughty was active all over the ice and contributed a pair of assists and Cal Petersen made 24 saves.

Winger Evander Kane scored twice, and winger Rudolfs Balcers and forward Tomas Hertl also scored for San Jose. Defenseman Brent Burns had two assists, and goalie Martin Jones made 42 saves to stifle his former team for a second straight game.

Jones, who has been at the center of San Jose’s struggles even dating as far back as their 2019 conference finals run, has been solid of late. In March he has gone 4-1-1, including a 41-save game against the Kings Monday. He has tormented his former team in general, posting a 16-5-3 career record against them.

Jones’ 83 saves over the two games raises the sort of quantity-versus-quality questions the Kings often faced last year.

“I’m not concerned about our lack of finish around the net. We had a lot of chances. It comes and goes,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “I’m concerned about our defending and our ability to defend the rush.”

While the Sharks won the game, they might have lost their captain, center Logan Couture. He received a shoulder check from the side from forward Jeff Carter and sustained an upper-body injury. Couture stayed down for a couple of minutes before being helped off the ice and going straight to the dressing room with 2:55 left.

The game unraveled early in the third period for the Kings, despite Kempe’s uncontested goal set up by Doughty’s elusive, mesmerizing weave through the offensive zone, 4:27 into the period.

“I thought I played a really good game,” said Doughty, later adding that “I look a lot better out there when the other team’s sitting back with a 4-1 lead.”

The Kings had started the third calamitously as they allowed two goals in less than a minute and a half.

At the 1:43 mark of the period, Hertl tracked down a long pass gone awry on the right wing and summarily undressed defenseman Sean Walker. Hertl dipped inside to zip a wrist shot while on the move that went in off Kings winger Andreas Athanasiou.

Eighty-two seconds earlier, the quietly effective pair of Burns and Mario Ferraro – the frequency of their deployment and their effectiveness have been similar to that of Doughty and Mikey Anderson – went to work. Burns slid the puck to Ferraro, who sent a shot through that was tipped home by Kane for his 14th goal of the season, tying Couture for the team lead.

“It’s definitely deflating. That can’t happen in any period, let alone the third,” Doughty said.

In the second period, the Kings salvaged their prospects for victory, briefly, with a goal that came with just 12.4 seconds remaining.

Facing pressure, Doughty turned the puck back to the blue line for winger Dustin Brown who threaded a pass through traffic that Iafallo deflected skyward past Jones after being robbed multiple times the past two games.

The frame saw Jones shine again – he fended off an Anze Kopitar one-timer, Brown’s rapid redirect and other tough chances – and the Sharks come out with strong legs.

If not for Petersen turning in a solid effort of his own, San Jose might have pulled further away. He made three saves in quick succession, sandwiching a stop on Couture between two on Kane.

But the Sharks tallied twice, one before that string of saves and once after, and both goals came in transition.

“That was as poor of rush coverage as I’ve seen from our group of D, and our forwards set up some outnumbered rushes by poor game management,” McLellan said.

Kane flipped the puck past Petersen from the doorstep, the result of a four-on-two rush that gave Petersen little chance at a save with 6:21 remaining in the frame.

Earlier, a sound breakout sent San Jose up ice with speed. They executed a give-and-go play between forward Marcus Sorensen and Balcers, which a wide-open Balcers finished easily at the right side of the net 2:14 into the period.

The Kings dominated the first period, out-shooting the Sharks 13-6. They also killed a pair of penalties, They extended their streak to nine games without allowing a power-play goal, killing 20 straight penalties in that span.

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