San Jose, CA – Raffi Torres potted the only goal of the shootout to lift the San Jose Sharks to a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday at HP Pavilion.
After the first four shooters came up empty, Torres skated in and slipped a backhander through the five-hole of Jonathan Quick to put the Sharks in front.
"I've got to start shooting more, I still have a lot more I can bring to the table," said Torres. "Once I get my confidence, once I get a few goals, I can get them in bunches."
Mike Richards had a chance to extend the shootout, but his quick wrister was turned away by Antti Niemi, who stopped 41 shots through regulation and overtime before turning away all three shooters in the shootout.
Brent Burns registered a goal and an assist, while TJ Galiardi netted the other regulation goal for the Sharks, who have won two straight to move into a tie with the Kings for the fourth spot in the Western Conference with 53 points.
Jake Muzzin and Dustin Brown each scored once for Los Angeles, while Quick posted 33 saves to help the Kings salvage a point.
"Quick is someone we don't worry about at all," said Kings forward Justin Williams. "He puts the most pressure on himself to perform, I think he's going to continue to improve."
All the scoring in regulation came in the second period, as the Sharks lit the lamp twice in a 42-second span near the midpoint of the stanza to seize control.
The first marker came off a Los Angeles turnover, as Burns intercepted a pass deep in the Kings' zone and kicked the puck to his stick before lifting a wrister over the glove of Quick for a 1-0 lead at the 8:48 mark.
Burns then assisted on the second goal just under a minute later when he slid a pass to the low right side, where Galiardi pounded home a one-timer to make it 2-0 at 9:30.
A tripping penalty against Galiardi, followed by a cross-checking minor against Jason Demers, provided Los Angeles with a 5-on-3 nearly three minutes later.
The Sharks efficiently killed off the Galiardi minor, but were unable to keep the Kings from scoring on the extended man advantage, as a Muzzin blast from the high slot slipped past Niemi at the 13:59 mark to make it 2-1.
Los Angeles then found the equalizer late in the frame when Brown bulled his way to the front of the net and pounded home a rebound that Niemi couldn't fully cover to make it 2-2 with 1:19 left in the period.
Game Notes
The Kings will host the Sharks to conclude the regular season on April 27 ... LA has lost six straight in San Jose ... The Sharks improved to 15-1-5 at home, while the Kings fell to 8-10-4 on the road ... San Jose forward Joe Thornton registered an assist to notch his 500th career helper with the Sharks.
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