San Jose Sharks goaltender Alexander Georgiev had a busy evening trying to stop Los Angeles Kings shots. Here the Kings Adrian Kempe scores on Georgiev in the second period at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Sun Mar 30, 2025 (AP News photo)
By Mary Walsh
The San Jose Sharks fell 8-1 on Sunday night, losing to the NHL’s best home team at this point in the season: the Los Angeles Kings. Phillip Danault, Adrian Kempe (2), Trevor Moore, Warren Foegele (2), Andrei Kuzmenko and Trevor Lewis scored for the Kings.
David Rittich made 22 saves in the win for LA. Cam Lund scored for the Sharks, his second in his third NHL game. It was also the second time Lund scored the Sharks’ only goal in a loss. Georgi Romanov made 28 saves in the loss.
While the Kings held a significant advantage in the standings over the Sharks, they had incentive to win. First, the Sharks were leading the series due to some wins early in the season. Secondly, the Kings are racing the Oilers for home ice in the playoffs. They were not likely to drop this game.
The Kings scored first, just at the expiration of a power play at 5:35 of the first period. Quinton Byfield caught Trevor Moore’s pass from below the goal line and sent it across the ice to Phillip Danault for a slap shot goal.
The Sharks had a two man advantage for over 90 seconds at 10:37 but could not convert. They were hampered by missed shots and failure to keep the puck in Los Angeles got a power play shortly after the Sharks’ one expired.
Adrian Kempe scored during the final seconds of that power play, making it 2-0 at 15:13. Anze Kopitar set Kempe up by carrying the puck to the net and then passing it back out to Kempe for a snap shot. Drew Doughty also earned an assist.
At the end of the first period, the shots were 8-7 Los Angeles.
The Sharks were back in the penalty box less than three minutes into the second period, after Cam Lund tripped Quinton Byfield. This time, the Sharks killed the penalty and pushed back hard enough to score.
Cam Lund came out of the box and gathered up the puck by the Sharks blue line, then went the other way. He dropped it to Ferraro just inside the zone and went to the net. There, he caught the rebound created by Ferraro’s shot and put it away.
Three minutes later, Trevor Moore made it 3-1 with a wrist shot. Assists went to Kopitar and Andrei Kuzmenko.
Less than three minutes later, the Kings were back on the power play with Ferraro in the box for hooking Kempe. The Sharks killed that off and, 12 seconds later, Ferraro went back to the box for tripping Kevin Fiala.
Late in that power play, Warren Foegele made it 4-1 with a third power play goal. Assists went to Brandt Clarke and Byfield.
In the last minute of the second period, Foegele scored his second of the night with a redirected shot that trickled under Romanov. Mikey Anderson and Drew Doughty got the assists.
With just 23 seconds left in the period, Kempe scored his second of the night. Vladislav Gavrikov and Andrei Kuzmenko got the assists.
The shots were 17-8 Kings during the second period.
Almost four minutes into the third period, a fight resulted in multiple penalties, giving the Sharks a power play. They could not convert but they had a chance to stem the bleeding.
At 14:49 of the third, Andrei Kuzmenko scored with a wrist shot from high in the slot, shooting through two Sharks defenders and over Romanov’s shoulder. Assists went to Kopitar and Gavrikov.
At 15:22, Trevor Lewis made it 8-1 with a wrist shot. Assists went to Jacob Moverare and Jordan Spence.
A giveaway by the Sharks gave Romanov a chance to stop a breakaway by Jeff Malott, one-on-one. He did so.
Roster notes: Jimmy Schuldt unavailable to play, but Marc-Edouard Vlasic returned to the lineup for his 18th game of the season on his 38th birthday. This game was Romanov’s second career NHL start and his fifth NHL appearance.
The Sharks next play on Tuesday at 7:00 PM PT in Anaheim against the Ducks.
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