Photo credit mercurynews.com: San Jose Sharks’ Evander Kane, right, celebrates his goal with teammates Antti Suomela, center, and Joonas Donskoi during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Los Angeles Kings on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, in Los Angeles.
By: Pearl Allison Lo
LOS ANGELES — After the San Jose Sharks lost their home opener, it was the Kings’ turn to feel the same way as they fell 3-2 at Staples Center on NHL Opening Night Friday under new head coach John Stevens.
The rivals definitely battled it out as both teams were deadlocked since the first 37 seconds of the second period.
It looked like it would continue a lot longer but just under three minutes into overtime, the game was decided.
Regarding the goal, Kevin Labanc replied, “Me and Cooch (Couture) and Karly (Karlsson), we kind of caught them late on their shift…It was a great pass by Cooch (Couture) and just kind of tucked it home.”
Both teams went scoreless on the power play, the Sharks 0-for-3 and Los Angeles 0-for-5.
Labanc pointed out, “Even though we’re not scoring, we’re creating momentum…the goals will start coming. We just got to be patient and stick to what we’ve been doing, put shots on net and be hungry for those rebounds.”
The first shot of the game came over five minutes into the contest.
The Kings got the first power play at 7:05 but San Jose the first goal. Joe Thornton passed back to Marc-Edouard Vlasic near the blue line who shot the puck. It got Timo Meier who was turned facing Vlasic on his left sleeve, and hit goalie Jonathan Quick across his chest on the way into the net at 9:42. All three got their first points of the season. Thornton is now three away from 11th on the all-time assists list.
Evander Kane doubled their lead with his second goal in as many games at 13:48. Both have been in the first period. Los Angeles could not clear the puck along the boards and took advantage. Antti Suomela and Joonas Donskoi got their first points with the assists.
Captain Anze Kopitar put his team on the board with their first goal of the 2018-19 season at 17:15. He shot the puck along the goal line and then made sure it entered the net. Teammates Alex Iafallo and Derek Forbort got the assists. Kopitar had a game-high five shots on goal.
The Kings turned the game around just 37 seconds into the second. The Sharks lost the puck and Los Angeles picked it up. Tanner Pearson took the initial shot past the left goalpost, which caromed over to the right. Goalie Martin Jones tried to block the gap between the post on his left side, but Tyler Toffoli was able to get through.
There was a lot of confusion on the cause, but what was clear was that Drew Doughty left the ice favoring his left leg after he went face down on the ice in pain at 5:23. It seems Meier’s stick caught Doughty’s knee. Luckily, Doughty was able to return to the ice later after going into the tunnel.
San Jose got a power play at 16:33 but lost it to even strength five seconds later with a penalty of their own.
Game Notes: Thornton played in his 1,495th game.
The Sharks have had a penalty in each period since they opened the season.
Justin Braun had a game-high five blocked shots.
Ilya Kovalchuk returned to NHL ice for the first time since 2012-13.
Official Linesman Darren Gibbs had to leave the game with an injury.
The Kings’ Austin Wagner made his NHL debut and drew lots of comments for his speed, as he went on three breakaways.
Up Next: San Jose continue their five-game road trip with a contest on the opposite coast, facing the New York Islanders Monday at 10 am PT.
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