Sharks vs. Kings Final Score: Kings Take 3-2 Series Lead After Game 5 Victory
By Josh Hill
Los Angeles is trying to defend their Stanley Cup title and so far it’s looking like that plan is perfectly on track. The Kings welcomed in the San Jose Sharks to the Staple Center on Thursday night and proceeded to clobber them to a 3-2 series lead and for San Jose to the brink of elimination.
The Kings struck first in the second and then right out of the gate in the third period to mount a two goal lead over the Sharks. But San Jose’s rushes got more and more intense and the game worn on in the third period and the Sharks went as far as to pull netminder Antti Niemi with over two minutes left in the game.
It’s becoming very likely that the Los Angeles Kings will be led to a Stanley up by netminder Jonathan Quick who was again his brilliant self on Thursday night. Quick stopped everything that was fired his way and helped preserve a 2-0 lead that would have been surrendered by a lesser net minder. But while the Detroit Red Wings are the talk of the conference thanks to their series with Chicago, the Kings are suddenly the favorites to win the Cup again — or at least they seem the most ready to do so.
San Jose didn’t simply roll over in Game 5, as their late game push to get back into things would have resulted in a better outcome had someone other than Quick been between the pipes. The series is far from over too, as the Sharks showed they can win big at home and haven’t lost a game there all postseason long, despite being down in the series 3-2 after losing Game 5.
While the Kings are looking like the best team in the West in terms of Stanley Cup ready contenders, they haven’t yet won on the road in this series and they’ll need to in order to avoid a seventh game being forced.
That seventh game is still a very real possibility with the way San Jose has played at home, but if the Kings are truly to be taken seriously Cup contenders again, Jonathan Quick will need to secure that road victory and his skaters will have to help him get there.