Los Angeles, CA — The Los Angeles Kings (41-23-9) defeated the San Jose Sharks (20-44-9) in an 8-1 victory at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday, March 30.
This victory was a bounce-back from the previous two losses against some of the tougher competition in the Stanley Cup playoffs—the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Colorado Avalanche. It also helped the Kings regain their top home-ice record.
Among the standout players during this match were LA Kings right wing Adrian Kempe and left wing Warren Foegele, who scored goals during a power play and again in the Kings' offensive onslaught in the second period.
In the first period, Los Angeles drew first blood when center Phillip Danault hit a slap shot from the left side of the San Jose net to score the first goal, 1-0. The Sharks' offense was later given two power plays off of penalties by the Kings — slashing and sticking —but could not utilize their advantages.
Meanwhile, the Sharks also gave up penalties. During the second power play, which the Kings received after a hooking penalty, Kempe hit a snapshot to the hockey net to score another goal for the Kings, 2-0.
As the second period skated by, San Jose scored their only goal of the night by center Cam Lund, 2-1. They could not hold back the offensive prowess of Los Angeles.
Kings left wing Trevor Moore took advantage of a defensive miscalculation by the Sharks—too many players on one person—and hit a wrist shot to the net, scoring for Los Angeles, 3-1. The Sharks gave up three penalties to the Kings, and on the second power play of the period, Foegele was able to muscle the puck into the San Jose net with a deflected shot from their goaltender, making it 4-1.
Towards the end of the second period, Foegele scored again for the LA Kings, only this time he tipped in a shot from defenseman Mikey Anderson to blow up the lead, 5-1. Even as the period was coming to a close, as the puck was being passed along nicely by Los Angeles, Kempe struck again with a slap shot from the left side of the Sharks net for a goal, 6-1.
The third period came around for the LA Kings, but San Jose's offense skipped town despite the penalties the Kings took—roughing and cross-checking by Mikey Anderson, both in the same play.
As the latter half of the third period came, as did left-wing Andrei Kuzmenko when he shot the puck right by the neutral zone with an impressive wrister, ballooning the lead to 7-1. Los Angeles center Trevor Lewis chimed in with insurance goals near the end, nailing a wrist shot to the Sharks net, making it 8-1 and marking the end of the offensive rampage by the LA Kings with a win.
Despite the offensive magic, the Kings will face perhaps one of the biggest challenges yet in the Winnipeg Jets, considered one of the favorites to make a deep run in the Stanley Cup playoffs.