Looking for their third straight win, the Los Angeles Kings welcomed the San Jose Sharks for an intriguing Pacific Division matchup. With both teams in control of the two wild card spots in the Western Conference with 45 points each, a four-point swing would be crucial.
A sloppy 40 minutes from the Kings, a bad giveaway from Adrian Kempe, and the impact of Macklin Celebrini propelled the Sharks to a 4-3 overtime win at Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday night.
Game Recap
The Kings came into tonight’s matchup down four forwards. Anze Kopitar, Trevor Moore, Joel Armia, and Corey Perry were all unavailable. With the lines mostly jumbled up and a few new faces as the Kings ran 11 forwards and seven defensemen, a sloppy start was expected. The Sharks forced turnovers with their aggressive forecheck, but nothing resulted on the scoreboard.
Early in the second period, Tyler Toffoli was given a gift in front of the net from a beautiful no-look pass from Alex Wennberg on the power play to open the scoring. Toffoli, against his old team, had the entire empty cage to look at potting his 11th of the season.
Responding seven minutes later, Alex Turcotte gave the Kings the tying goal, firing a spinorama no-look shot toward the net.
The Sharks would continue to capitalize on the man advantage. Timothy Liljegren fired a shot from the point that was deflected by Adam Gaudette, giving the Sharks a 2-1 lead early in the third.
The Kings wasted no time answering back a minute later. A scramble in front of the net resulted in the puck popping out to Kevin Fiala, who got off a quick release before Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov was able to react.
That same trio of Turcotte, Fiala, and Andrei Kuzmenko continued to drive the Kings’ offense, setting up a play that saw defenseman Joel Edmundson drive to the net before being cross-checked into the crease. The puck hit his glove as it trickled past the line and was called back after being reviewed.
Late in the third, Edmundson made sure his name would be on the scoreboard, unloading a shot from the point that was deflected past Askarov by Alex Laferriere.
With less than two minutes remaining, down one goal, Celebrini took matters into his own hands. Waltzing through the offensive zone before beating Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper five-hole, Celebrini’s 24th of the season tied things up at three.
The Macklin Magic would continue in overtime. Kempe, attempting a blind drop pass just inside the offensive blue line, was picked up by Celebrini, giving the Sharks an odd-man rush the other way. Celebrini hit William Eklund with a cross-ice feed, and he made no mistake burying one past a diving Kuemper for the game winner.
The Sharks will look to extend their winning streak to three games when they host the Dallas Stars on Saturday, while the Kings look to make it four straight games with a point when they travel to Winnipeg to take on the league’s worst Jets.
