The Sharks squared off with the Los Angeles
Kings for the third and final time of the regular season on Wednesday night in
Southern California. The two teams played a back and forth game was tied the
majority of the contest. A late Kings goal looked as if the Sharks would fall
short, but a Macklin Celebrini goal with 67 seconds left in regulation helped
get the Sharks to the extra period when William Eklund ended things in
overtime.
Eklund bagged the game winner, but Celebrini set him up by
forcing a turnover and racing up ice and drawing Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper
to cover the right post before sending a pass to the off wing where his
overtime partner snapped it home to help San Jose win the season series with
Los Angeles 2 games to 1.
The tempo to start the game was up beat
which led to some entertaining hockey. Neither team would score, but there were
opportunities for both sides.
A Vincent Iorio interference penalty at
16:39 provided the Kings with the lone man advantage opportunity in the frame.
The league's 23rd ranked penalty kill did a yeoman's job keeping the puck away
from starting goaltender Yaroslav Askarov.
A Drew Doughty penalty for
holding the stick of Zack Ostapchuk setup the Sharks 1st power play of the
night. San Jose would convert on the man advantage with a Celebrini to
Alexander Wennberg to Tyler Toffoli passing sequence that ended with Toffoli
stuffing a slam dunk chance home from the left post.
The Sharks went
on another power play moments after the Toffoli goal when Sammy Helenius caught
Jeff Skinner with a high stick, but Toffoli was called for hooking 30 seconds
into their man advantage.
The Kings leveled the game at 11:34 after
Alex Turcotte swept a pin-balling puck home from the left side. Kevin Fiala
pumped a shot on Askarov that was denied, but the puck kicked out to the front
of the net and hit a skate in a sea of black boots. The puck kicked over to
Turcotte as two Shark defenders tried locating it.
San Jose was
awarded a 4th power play at 3:48 of the 3rd period when Adrian Kempe hooked Sam
Dickinson. The Sharks converted when Adam Gaudette tipped a Timothy Liljegren
shot past Kuemper for his 9th goal of the season.
The Sharks lead was short lived as Kevin Fiala
answered 62 seconds later after the Kings collapsed on the San Jose net.
The Kings appeared to take the lead with 7:41 remaining in regulation
when Joel Edmundson scored off a pile of bodies in the crease, but a review
determined that the Kings forward punched the goal into the net with his glove.
Los Angeles would get the go ahead goal with 2:10 remaining when Alex
Laferriere pumped a long shot from the left point that evaded Askarov.
San Jose was forced to pull their goaltender for the extra attacker and
Celebrini worked his magic. The Sharks forward carried the puck around Warren
Foegele with a nasty juke before cutting to the slot and snapping a shot from
between the circles past Kuemper.
It was something the Sharks couldn't
dream of last season, but the development of their young superstar changed the
complexion of the franchise and certainly changed Wednesday night's game.
Celebrini and Eklund then worked their magic in the overtime to take
an improbable 2 points.
Game Notes: * Adam Gaudette
returned to the lineup after missing the last 3 games with an upper body
injury. Not surprisingly, Ty Dellandrea is headed for a stint on the injured
reserve. He was a scratch on Wednesday, but Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky
indicated that Dellandrea will be out "for a while."
* The Sharks are
looking to have both Will Smith and Philipp Kurashev return before the Olympic
break. Kurashev was named to the Swiss Olympic Team on Wednesday, so he will be
headed to Torino along with Macklin Celebrini (Team Canada) and Alexander
Wennberg (Team Sweden).
* Macklin Celebrini records his 42nd assist on
the 2nd period Tyler Toffoli power play goal and has extended his point scoring
streak to 12 games. It's the 3rd longest point streak in Sharks history and the
3rd longest for a teenager in NHL history.
* From the odd scheduling
department, the Sharks and Kings wrapped up their season series in the first
week of January. The Sharks will only play 3 of their final 10 games against
Pacific Division opponents.
* Equipment Manager Mike Aldrich worked
his 2,500th NHL game on Wednesday. The players and coaches honored Aldrich with
"Aldrich" t-shirts that they wore before the game. Aldrich will retire at the
end of the season.
