Kings rally past Sharks with three third-period goals

March 22, 2019 LawsonRealtyGroup Real Estate News 0


  • Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick makes a glove save on a shot by Sharks center Melker Karlsson during the third period of Thursday’s game at Staples Center. The Kings won 4-2. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

  • Kings defenseman Alec Martinez, left, and San Jose Sharks left wing Marcus Sorensen vie for the puck during the first period of Thursday’s game at Staples Center. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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  • Los Angeles Kings right wing Dustin Brown, below, celebrates his goal along with defenseman Sean Walker, left, and defenseman Paul LaDue during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday, March 21, 2019, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

  • Los Angeles Kings left wing Austin Wagner, left, tries to get a shot past San Jose Sharks goaltender Martin Jones during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 21, 2019, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

  • San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns, right, passes the puck while under pressure from Los Angeles Kings left wing Alex Iafallo during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 21, 2019, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

  • San Jose Sharks center Lukas Radil, right, falls as he tries to pass the puck while under pressure from Los Angeles Kings left wing Brendan Leipsic, left, and center Trevor Lewis during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 21, 2019, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

  • Sharks center Tomas Hertl, left, and Kings defenseman Matt Roy race to the puck during the first period of Thursday’s game at Staples Center. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

  • San Jose Sharks center Melker Karlsson, left, tries to get a shot past Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, March 21, 2019, in Los Angeles. The Kings won 4-2. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

  • Kings center Jeff Carter, left, celebrates his empty-net goal with defenseman Derek Forbort during the third period of the team’s 4-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night at Staples Center. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

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LOS ANGELES — Kings rookie defenseman Matt Roy scored his first NHL goal on Thursday night. It was a big one because it tied the score against the rival San Jose Sharks in the third period.

Roy was able to really enjoy his first tally because Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter scored later in the period as the Kings rallied to defeat the Sharks 4-2 before 18,230 at Staples Center.

The Kings (26-39-8, 60 points) entered having lost three straight games, five straight at home and 16 of 18 overall.

San Jose (43-23-8, 94 points), which has qualified for the playoffs and is in second place in the Pacific Division, has lost four in a row.

Roy, 24, out of Michigan, put up solid offensive numbers at Ontario of the AHL this season before his recall, getting 29 points on eight goals and 21 assists in 45 games.

But all he had to show for his first 15 NHL games before Thursday was a pair of assists. When he scored at 9:28 of the third period, he had goal No. 1.

“You like to get one, you like to contribute and produce,” Roy said. “But my style of game, I’m more concerned about defense. So I just wanted to keep shooting and, hopefully, one was going to go in.”

Even though the Kings have been eliminated from playoff contention, the victory came against one of their biggest rivals, a San Jose team that has already clinched a playoff berth.

That made Roy’s first goal even sweeter.

“Yeah, definitely,” he said. “You could feel the excitement in the building tonight, so it was a lot of fun.”

Dustin Brown gave the Kings a 1-0 lead with his 20th goal of the season at 5:19 of the first period off assists from Sean Walker and Adrian Kempe.

San Jose challenged that there was goalie interference on Alex Iafallo, but officials ruled otherwise.

It’s the seventh time in Brown’s 15-year career he has scored at least 20 goals; he missed the first 10 games this season with a broken finger.

Brown smiled when talking about the victory.

“Winning’s a lot more fun than losing and we’ve had a lot of losing this year,” he said.

San Jose tied the score 1-1 at 17:33 of the first period on Barclay Goodrow’s seventh goal. Marc-Edouard Vlasic took a shot from the blue line and Goodrow was given credit for deflecting the puck past Kings goalie Jonathan Quick.

Replays appeared to show the puck hitting Kings forward Austin Wagner on the way into the net.

Vlasic and Joonas Donskoi had the assists.

The Sharks took a 2-1 lead on Tomas Hertl’s 32nd goal of the season at 3:45 of the second period, thanks in part to a sweet backward pass from Brent Burns to Hertl inside the right faceoff circle. Quick had little chance for a save.

After Roy tied the score, Kopitar netted his 21st just more than two minutes later – at 11:45 of the third – for a 3-2 Kings lead.

Carter scored his 11th into an empty net at 18:43. The short-handed goal was Carter’s first goal in more than two months, a Jan. 15 tally against Minnesota. He had gone 20 games without a goal.

Kings interim coach Willie Desjardins liked what he saw from his team.

“I thought it was good,” he said. “We had a great start to the game, the guys were ready right from the start. After that, it was just a hard battle throughout.”

Sharks defenseman Burns summed up the game from his team’s standpoint.

“I thought we played well, but we came back on and it was tough to leave that game in the third period,” he said. “It was a couple of quick goals.”

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