Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks
By Pearl Allison Lo
LOS ANGELES — No, it wasn’t Logan Couture, but I don’t think he’ll mind that teammate Patrick Marleau scored the overtime winner this time, as San Jose scooped up another win after initially leading 3-0 in a 4-3 victory over the Kings.
Kevin Labanc made the initial shot and Marleau picked up the rebound before going top-shelf 2:35 into the extra period.
Timo Meier struck twice with a game-high six shots as the Sharks faced former head coach Todd McLellan for the first time with his new team Monday. It was Meier’s first two-goal game of the season.
It was also the first time this pair of opposite state rivals faced off in the 2019-2020 season.
San Jose established a 3-0 lead in the first half as Los Angeles used the second to work their way back. The Kings committed three penalties in the second half, the middle one no doubt a factor as Los Angeles scored the game-tying goal two seconds after the penalty expired.
After a clearing attempt that Kyle Clifford ended up tipping to the Sharks, Erik Karlsson started the sequence. He passed to Evander Kane who sent the puck through Ben Hutton’s legs to Couture. After receiving the drop pass from Couture, Karlsson shot with an open stance above goalie Jonathan Quick’s left shoulder at 5:53. With the apple, Couture’s 20th assist, he now has a seven-game point streak.
The Kings finished with the shot advantage in the first thanks to five shots on goal during the power play that ended the period.
San Jose’s Barclay Goodrow stole the puck in the Sharks’ end and then Karlsson took it to the races. With a 3-on-2 advantage on the transition, Labanc passed behind Karlsson to Meier after Karlsson got closer to the two defenders. Once the puck hit Meier’s tape, he wasted no time, scoring just to the left of defender Alec Martinez and Quick at 6:19.
The Sharks kept the momentum with smooth passing and Goodrow and Labanc holding onto the puck through two hits against the boards. Labanc found Brenden Dillon across the ice who shot through defenseman Sean Walker as Meier smashed the puck into open blue ice at 8:45.
Los Angeles started their comeback when they managed to get one past Jones a second before the final minute of the period. Once Adrian Kempe made a no-look pass behind him to Blake Lizotte, he shot through Radim Simek’s legs back to Kempe who found a hole through traffic.
In the third, a glove was lost, a stick fell onto the ice and the puck rolled across the blue ice behind Jones during a flurry.
At 8:31, the circles on the ice lit up to mark a 3-2 score. Alex Iafallo was able to find Dustin Brown through traffic as Brown found the hole between Jones’ left skate and the post.
Kempe aimed from the right faceoff circle on the power play and then Iafallo off the power play as the puck might have hit Brown’s skate on its way back to Anze Kopitar. The captain earned his team-leading 10th goal from a kneeling position to even the match at three apiece.
The whistle blew against San Jose for the second time in the third with 1:04 left in regulation as they were called for too many men on the ice.
The Kings outshot the Sharks 16-6 in the third.
Up Next: San Jose now heads home for two games facing the Winnipeg Jets Wednesday at 7:30 pm first. Martinez took an unfortunate skate to the wrist in the third from Melker Karlsson so prayers please.
Sports Radio Service 