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The San Jose Sharks came up short against the Los Angeles Kings last night, falling 3-2 in a shootout.
The Sharks were riding a brief two-game winning streak coming into the game, and were most recently coming off a 3-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday.
The Sharks had put together a really strong effort in the win over Arizona, getting off to a good start and outplaying Arizona pretty badly through the first 40 minutes. San Jose had gone up 2-0 within the first five minutes of the game off goals from Tomas Hertl and Nick Bonino, and while Arizona got one back on a power play late in the first period, San Jose proceeded to completely control the second frame, with Nico Sturm putting the Sharks back up by two partway through the middle period. An early third period goal for the Coyotes made things interesting and the Sharks were just trying to hold on in the final stretch of the third period, but they managed to come away with the narrow win, after what was a really positive game overall.
Last night though, the Sharks found themselves down early, as Phillip Danault managed to backhand a shot through James Reimer on a power play, to put the Kings ahead six minutes into the game. However, despite not being able to get a ton going through the frame, the Sharks capitalized on a power play later in the period to tie it, with Timo Meier burying the puck into an open net.
The Sharks did end up pressing with some good chances in the second period, despite being outshot 17-13. Then with under five minutes left, Timo Meier found Kevin Labanc in the slot with a nice pass, and Labanc beat Pheonix Copley with a hard shot, putting the Sharks ahead. The lead was short-lived though, and under a minute later, a loose puck popped out to Jaret Anderson-Dolan, who beat Reimer to tie the game through 40 minutes.
A very low-event third period followed, which each team managing just five shots. After neither team could re-take the lead, the game continued to overtime, where both teams hit a post and the Kings had some great late chances, but a shoutout was needed.
In the shootout, we saw the first four shooters all unable to convert. When Kevin Fiala scored as the Kings’ third shooter though, the pressure was on Kevin Labanc to keep it going and he made no mistake, making a nice move to slide the puck through Copley. However, Trevor Moore ended up converting in the fourth round to put Los Angeles ahead again and this time the Sharks couldn’t respond, as Alexander Barabanov was denied and the Kings got the extra point.
While it marks the end of the Sharks’ brief two-game winning streak, San Jose has now gone four games without a regulation loss (dating back to their overtime loss against the Vancouver Canucks on Dec. 7), which given how the season has gone, is a positive.
San Jose was outshot pretty badly last night, but that margin was only really widened in overtime. The reality is the Sharks are actually playing pretty decent hockey right now compared to expectations and are at least keeping games competitive.
James Reimer’s return has been key for the Sharks as well. Stable goaltending is an absolute necessity for the Sharks and Reimer was good in both of his games since coming back into the lineup.
One note though was that Luke Kunin was out yesterday for the Sharks and has been placed on injured reserve, after exiting the game against Arizona. Alexander Barabanov, however, returned to the lineup after an absence against the Coyotes.
The Sharks will be back in action tonight, as they host the Calgary Flames for the first of three home games over the next five days.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM DECEMBER
Sharks come up short against Maple Leafs, fall 3-1
Sharks give up three power play goals, lose 5-2 to Senators
Sharks fall to Sabres in final game of road trip for third straight loss
Ranking the Sharks’ offseason additions based on their play this season
Sharks beaten by Canucks in overtime for fourth loss in a row
Eetu Makiniemi earns win in first NHL start, Sharks beat Ducks 6-1 
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