It looks like the San Jose Sharks have shaken off their little losing slump. In their second game back from a season high 5 game road trip, the Sharks hosted the red hot road team Los Angeles Kings, who came off a 4-3 win Wednesday night, and never gave the Kings a lead as they won the game 4-2 to improve on the league's best home record.
Lukas Kaspar, who replaced Patrick Marleau on the first line this week due to multiple injuries that reduced the depth the Sharks had, made the most of his time pairing with Joe Thorton and Devin Setoguchi, as the two fed Kaspar for a goal 34 seconds into the game to give the Sharks the very early lead. But 4 minutes later, Brad Richardson made a slick pass between the skates of a San Jose defender to the open stick of Michal Handzus for an easy tap in goal to tie the game 1-1. But 1 second after a late power play opportunity expired for San Jose, Marleau got his 33rd goal of the season after a Rob Blake shot rebounded to him in front of Erik Ersberg and the Sharks took a 2-1 lead into the second period.
The Kings took advantage of their early power play opportunity, as Alexander Frolov scored his team-leading 10th power play goal off a rebound that Evgeni Nabokov knew he had no chance to recover in time to save, and the game was tied 2-2. But on another Sharks power play, Marc-Edouard Vlasic was the recipient this time of a rebound off a Blake shot that slid all the way out to the high slot, where Vlasic was able to shoot it hard past Ersberg who was dealing with multiple bodies in front. 2 minutes later, Joe Pavelski shook off defenders and slid a pass across the crease to an open Milan Michalek for an easy tap in goal to put the Sharks up 4-2. Los Angeles pulled their goaltender with a minute and a half left in the third period and received a power play shortly after to give them a late 6 on 4 opportunity, but they were not able to capitalize on the chance and San Jose won for the second game in a row.
Oddly enough, a good portion of the game was spent 4 on 4, with the referees often calling off-setting minors on multiple roughing plays. The game got ugly towards the end, where the Sharks were recipients of several blows to the heads and hits from behind courtesy of the Los Angeles Kings, but retaliations after the initial penalties were called also had the plays ultimately result in more 4 on 4 ice time. Despite several punches being thrown throughout the fight, no fighting majors were handed out. The Sharks had 40 shots on goal, the first time that has happened since their 4-3 shootout loss to Carolina on February 5th. Claude Lemieux, who picked up his first 15 penalty minutes Tuesday night against Edmonton, assisted on Michalek's goal, picking up his first point since his return to the NHL with the San Jose Sharks since March 9th, 2003, where he assisted on a goal against the Sharks as a Dallas Star. Lukas Kaspar's goal was his second of the season and his NHL career, both coming against the Kings. With a power play goal, the Los Angeles Kings have now scored 12 power play goals in the past 8 games, which is good news for them as they push for a late playoff spot as they continue on their long road trip, playing five of their next six games on the road. The San Jose Sharks host the Atlanta Thrashers Saturday afternoon, who are currently not in the playoff picture but have rekindled their offense that had gone cold for 10 games before scoring 8 against Anaheim last Sunday and 6 against Los Angeles on Monday.
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