After falling to the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 at
SAP Center on December 19th, the Sharks got a taste of what their post
Christmas game would be like. True to form, the Kings smacked the Sharks 5-1 at
Crypto.com Arena in Southern California on Wednesday night as the NHL resumed
play following their brief holiday break. Similar to their game last week, the
Sharks were simply overmatched. San Jose opened the game's scoring then allowed
the Kings to score 5 straight goals to drop their 23rd game in regulation and
26th overall loss.
Turnovers continue to be the flaming noose that
snaps the Sharks neck. The disparity in puck control skills was glaring as San
Jose rarely retained possession long enough to pressure the Kings.
Fabian Zetterlund was a one man wrecking crew to bag the game's first goal. The
Sharks forward was defending near his own blueline when he intercepted a Kevin
Fiala pass attempt to Mikey Anderson. After stripping Fiala, Zetterlund raced
up ice and snapped a 30-foot shot past Kings goaltender David Rittich. The goal
was Zetterlund's 10th of the season.
Blake Lizotte was called for
holding at 18:23, which carried over to the 2nd period. The Sharks would not
convert on the man advantage, which has contributed to the Sharks offensive
struggles this season.
The Kings would counter with a pair of goals
that came 13 seconds apart. First Fiala mimicked Zetterlund's goal when ht
intercepted a puck at his own blueline before racing up ice on a breakaway,
then beating Kaapo Kahkonen for his 7th goal of the season.
Mario Ferraro coughed up the puck behind his own net
off the ensuing faceoff. Trevor Lewis picked up the puck outside the right post
before sliding it past Kahkonen with a backhand chance.
It was a gut
punch few seconds that seemingly seems to happen too often to San Jose this
season.
Los Angeles extended their lead to 2 goals when Pierre-Luc
Dubois punched home a rebound from the left side after Arthur Kaliyev bounced a
long shot off Kahkonen. The shot came from the high slot, but the rebound
turned 45 degrees to Dubois, who was in the perfect spot to return the puck
after it kicked out to him.
Adrian Kempe sealed the deal for Los
Angeles 3:36 into the 3rd period when he buried his 10th goal of the season.
The Kings forward got his stick blade on a Matt Roy shot, deflecting it past
Kahkonen for the 3-goal lead.
The Sharks enjoyed their 3rd power play
of the night after Luke Kunin put Kaliyev into the boards forcing a response
from Alex Lafarriere. The Sharks proceeded to fumble the puck in their own end
for the next 2 minutes negating any chance at even a sniff at the Kings net.
Kempe added his 2nd of the game at 15:42 after skating around Jan
Rutta and putting a backhand shot past Kahkonen from the left side.
Game Notes: * Calen Addison and Alexander Barabanov returned to
the lineup after dealing with health issues. Addison missed the last 3 games
with a lower body injury, while Barabanov was dealing with an illness.
* Jacob MacDonald was placed on injured reserve with an undisclosed lower body
injury.
* Mackenzie Blackwood was suffering from an undisclosed
illness, to San Jose recalled Magnus Chrona from the Barracuda to serve as
Kaapo Kahkonen's backup.
* The Sharks have now lost 6 consecutive
times to the Kings, dating back to last season. They will face Los Angeles 2
more tie this season to wrap up the season series.
* San Jose has
secured the worst record in the NHL with Chicago beating Winnipeg in overtime
on Wednesday night. The Sharks 21 standing points trails the Blackhawks by 2
points. Ottawa is worst in the East with 26 points.
