LOS ANGELES – The Sharks might not be spending much time reviewing the recent playoff history between the themselves and the Kings, but they’re starting to repeat it.
They’ll just have to hope the ending this time around is a whole lot better.
San Jose jumped out to a two-games-to-none lead on Saturday at Staples Center with a 2-1 win behind goals by Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture and 27 saves from Martin Jones.
In 2014, the Sharks won the first three games of their first round series with Los Angeles before the infamous reverse sweep.
Pavelski scored his third goal of the series to put San Jose up early. From the faceoff dot, the captain lifted a high shot over Jonathan Quick at 3:37 of the first period, with Tomas Hertl providing the screen.
That’s where the game stood until the Sharks went on a full two-minute, two-man advantage at 8:14 of the second when Tyler Toffoli and Milan Lucic each took minor penalties. Couture slammed home a Pavelski rebound at 8:44 for his first marker.
The Sharks’ penalty killers helped preserve the lead over the latter half of the second, not allowing the Kings to convert on minors to Matt Nieto and Nick Spaling. Jones made perhaps his best stop with about one minute to go in the second, denying Lucic’s attempt from close range with a left pad.
Earlier in the period, Jones stopped a Jeff Carter redirection and Dustin Brown one-timer after not seeing hardly anything dangerous for more than half the game.
At the end of the frame, the Kings took exception to Donskoi’s shot on Quick just after the horn sounded, and another scrum ensued in the corner.
Los Angeles finally got on the board with a power play goal at 14:59 of the third. After a mad scramble in front of the net featuring six Kings shot attempts, the puck squired to Vinny Lecavalier and he whacked it home.
The physicality and enmity between the two clubs picked up right where it left off from Game 1. Luke Schenn was involved in the first period in that regard, slamming Hertl in the neutral zone (on an interference minor) and later running over Joonas Donskoi with 2:40 to go.
At the end of the frame, the Kings took exception to Donskoi’s shot on Quick just after the horn sounded, and another scrum ensued in the corner.
In the second, Brown skated towards Roman Polak but the solid Sharks defenseman stood him up and knocked him over with 2:21 left in the period.
Marian Gaborik played for the first time since Feb. 12, when he suffered a knee injury. He skated on the top line with Lucic and Anze Kopitar.
The Sharks are 6-2 all-time when winning the first two games of a playoff series.
Special teams:
The Sharks finished 1-for-5 on the power play, and are now 2-for-9 in the series.
Los Angeles was also 1-for-5, and is 2-for-8 through the first two games.
In goal:
Jones has now won the first two playoff starts of his career, and has allowed four goals on 52 shots in the series.
Quick allowed two goals on 23 shots and fell to 45-33 in the postseason.
Lineup:
Along with Gaborik’s return, the Kings inserted Nick Shore into the lineup on their fourth line. Kyle Clifford and Andy Andreoff sat.
On defense, Alec Martinez missed Game 2 with a presumed injury after he left the second period of Game 1 and did not return. Jamie McBain, veteran of 345 regular season games, played in his first career playoff game.
The Sharks dressed their same lineup as Thursday.
Up next:
The Sharks will return home for games three and four on Monday and Wednesday. According to the Sharks, there were a limited number of tickets still available.
