~ AP Photo/Kelvin Kuo

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ LOS ANGELES– San Jose won for the sixth straight time at Staples while ending two of the Kings’ streaks in a 4-1 win Wednesday.

The Sharks extended their lead in the Pacific division while ending Los Angeles’ five-game win streak and six-game win streak at home.

It was the first set of back-to-back games in which San Jose won both matchups.  

Former Kings’ backup goalie Martin Jones saved 26 shots. Both Logan Couture and Coach Peter DeBoer talked about him being a top goalie.

Rookies Kevin Labanc and Ryan Carpenter scored and as Darin Stephens pointed out, it was the second time San Jose rookies have scored against Los Angeles, the first pair being Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Joe Pavelski.

The second line hit pay dirt twice in the first period, in particular the forward pair of Couture and Joel Ward, Ward getting the secondary assist on both goals.   

First, Labanc scored on the Sharks’ first shot with a different looking line. With a player in between them, Couture passed across to Labanc for his second NHL goal. It was Couture’s second straight assist and he now has a three-game point streak.

During the period, San Jose’s Chris Tierney slid into the boards, followed by a hit from Jake Muzzin, where Tierney’s head crashed into the boards too. He went back to the bench, left later and was able to return to the bench during the period.

Los Angeles had a lot of close chances (7-2 missed shots and blocked shots 9-3) and with just about a minute and half left, had limited the Sharks to only three shots. That soon changed though. By the end of period, both were tied at seven.

With 54.6 seconds left, Joonas Donskoi turned around and made a quick shot at the net. Couture got the close rebound off goalie Peter Budaj for his second goal in three games.

Then with 24.2 seconds, Carpenter scored his first NHL goal as his shot hit Budaj and then went into the net. Mikkel Boedker earned his second assist in as many games.

The Kings made sure they would not at least get shut out. Los Angeles’ second power play of the night came just 1:01 into the second period as they capitalized. With Jones’ left pad against the goalpost, Dustin Brown was able to play the puck off his pad and go top shelf. Marian Gaborik got his first assist and Nick Dowd had the second assist.

39 seconds after the goal, Burns went into the net to stop a shot by Trevor Lewis.

The Sharks’ lines got even more mixed during the second period. Some featured combinations included Melker Karlsson, Ward and Couture, Donskoi, Tierney and Carpenter and Karlsson Couture and Pavelski.

Both Jones and DeBoer talked about the third period, Jones in particular stating, “…I don’t think I had one shot before the three-minute mark…we got pucks deep and grinded them low and we possessed the puck in the offensive zone a lot tonight.”

San Jose went on the power play once, during 5:12 of the third period, as Carpenter drew cross checking.   

Couture’s empty netter came at 18:43, with Drew Doughty chasing it until the end.

Game notes: While Pavelski’s seven-game point streak ended, he had a team-high seven hits and matched a team-high four shots. The Sharks next play the Montreal Canadiens Friday at 7:30pm.