San Jose Sharks defeat Los Angeles Kings 6-3 Game 4 to lead in first-round 3-1 – NHL Play-offs
The San Jose Sharks beat the Los Angeles Kings 6-3 in Game 4 to extend their lead 3-1 of the Western Conference quarter-finals series at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Both teams remained scoreless throughout the first period and after San Jose played a little with the Kings’ defence, they were able to finally penetrate through to their goalie Jonathan Quick. San Jose played a quick penalty strategy to get defensemen Drew
Doughty out of the game by creating a little fight between their own Scott Nichol and him. Both players were penalised, which worked like a charm and San Jose kicked off a shooting spree.
Ryane Clowe scored his third of the series in less than a minute after Doughty left while Jason Demers extended the lead within the next 14 seconds of game-time. The rookie superstar Logan Couture, who assisted Demers, fed the puck to Clowe again halfway
through the period to get his second assist when he scored during a four-minute power-play. Matt Greene was awarded with a surprising four-minute power-play for high sticking Scott Nichol.
"Last game was a wild one, nobody really expected that one, but tonight was more of our game," Clowe said. "Better start, better 60 minutes and not too many ups and downs. It was a grind-it-down game, the game we needed to play."
Brad Richardson answered back at the 11 minute mark for the Kings’ first goal of the night, he was followed by Justin Williams who brought down the score within a goals reach and ended the period on a high note 3-2.
Los Angeles’ goalie Jonathan Quick played solid defence in the first period. After making the most saves in the first 20 minutes, he fell apart slowly after their second period thrashing. In the final period, San Jose had only four attempts on the opposing
net and Quick only managed to reject one of them. He finished the matchup with a total of 21 saved, letting six through while away goalie Antti Niemi blocked 35 of 38 shots.
Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski and Torrey Mitchell scored for San Jose to extend their lead to an uncatchable 6-2 by the end of the first 10 minutes in the final period. Alexei Ponikarovsky scored the final goal for the Kings with less than seven minutes remaining
and was not able to penetrate any further after that.
"Whatever happened in the third with giveaways, turnovers and lost faceoffs, that's sometimes hard to explain," Kings Coach Bill Murray said.
Los Angeles has been put on the verge of elimination after facing defeat in their home stadium. It is hard to say who will emerge victorious in game five which takes place on Saturday in San Jose, but the Sharks have been playing consistent since the start
which means their chances are the highest.
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