Team Teal showed up in the first period, but disappeared the rest of this game as the Los Angeles Kings took care of business for a second consecutive matchup with a score of 5-1.
The Sharks struck first in the opening period when Fabian Zetterlund scored on a breakaway for his tenth goal of the season. Early in the second period, two bad turnovers by the Sharks led to the Kings scoring two quick goals from Kevin Fiala and Trevor Lewis to gain their first lead of the night. Later in the middle frame, the Kings extended their lead to two via Pierre-Luc Dubois.
LA put the nail in the coffin in the third period after Adrian Kempe scored twice to put the Kings up by four. In addition, Luke Kunin and Alex Lafferiere scrapped after Kunin laid a hit on Arthur Kaliyev, sending Kaliyev uncomfortably into the boards and Kaliyev slow to get up. Kunin won the tilt, while Laferriere received an additional two-minute roughing penalty on top of his five-minute fighting major.
Kaapo Kahkonen was back in net for the Sharks, recording 38 saves on 43 shots against. Although this stat line wasn’t great, Kahkonen made some highlight-reel stops against the Kings in LA. On the other hand, Mackenzie Blackwood was sidelined with an illness, resulting in the Sharks calling up Magnus Chrona from the Barracuda. In a corresponding move, Jacob MacDonald was transferred to the injured reserve.
The primary factors that doomed the Sharks in this one were the costly turnovers and the fact that they generally struggle to generate scoring chances against some of the top teams in the NHL. Team Teal returns home tomorrow to host the Edmonton Oilers at 7:30 pm PT.
Sources: NBC Sports Bay Area/California, NHL App
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