San Jose Sharks clinch Pacific Division as they manhandle Los Angeles Kings 6-1 –NHL Update
Monday night brought celebrations to San Jose as they captured the Pacific Divisional title after battering Los Angeles Kings by 6-1. It was the fourth straight time they captured the top spot in the division which came only four days after clinching the
third playoff position.
The 17,000 plus crowd roared in excitement which could be heard outside of the sold out HP Pavilion Arena in San Jose, California, as Sharks extended its winning streak to four in a row.
Los Angeles gave up an opportunity to secure a playoff spot and stood frozen in a timid fourth number spot in the Western Conference.
Phoenix Coyotes and Nashville Predators have a chance at throwing LA out and down two places in their separate matches on Tuesday.
San Jose grabbed the match early on in the first period.
Joe Pavelski and Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored twice nearly seven minutes apart to take an early lead of 2-0.
LA’s premier goalie, Jonathan Quick, could not work his magic this time and was called out 25 minutes into the game after blocking only 12 of 16 attempts.
Replacement goalie for LA, Jonathan Bernier, did a little better as he made 17 of 19 rejections during the remainder of the game.
Antti Niemi played like his usual self. He made 31 saves for Sharks.
Michal Handzus showed hope for Kings when he scored two minutes, entering the second period.
Their hopes were washed away when Kyle Wellwood fired off his fifth of the season from the circle, 22 seconds later. Wellwood’s goal sparked another San Jose shooting spree, as Dan Boyle and Joe Thornton scored once each halfway through the second period.
Thornton recorded his 999th career point after his rebound goal.
"That's happened a lot to us this year. Giving up a goal after we score one, those are momentum goals," LA forward Dustin Brown said. "We never recovered from that goal."
Devin Setoguchi added the final of the match with less than 30 seconds remaining, widening the gap 6-1 with the third period still remaining.
Even though the final 20 minutes remained scoreless, it did not mean that it was not exciting.
Fans witnessed a group fight in the final moments as San Jose’s Douglas Murray and Dan Boyle exchanged fists with the away teams Kyle Clifford and Brad Richardson.
"I turned around and saw two guys hitting at Dougie," Boyle said. "I know he could probably take two guys any day of the week, but I just wanted to go in there and help him out like he's been doing for me all year."
Los Angeles lost for the second time in three games. They face off against the racing Coyotes on Wednesday at home.
The Sharks lost their second place spot in the conference to Detroit once again, but are only shy one point of tying it up with 101. San Jose faces the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday.
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