Sharks at Kings, Game 3 final score: San Jose edges Los Angeles, 4-3, in OT to take 3-0 series lead
By Josh Sanchez
The San Jose Sharks were able to storm out to a two game lead in their Western Conference series against the Los Angeles Kings after two dominating wins, and they were hoping to put the Kings on the ropes by stealing a win on the road.
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In a thrilling overtime game, Patrick Marleau was the hero after a beautiful shot was able to sneak past Jonathan Quick to give the Sharks a 4-3 win and a commanding lead in the series.
San Jose was able to strike first in Game 3 thanks to a power play goal from Brent Burns, but the Kings weren’t going to go down without a fight.
Los Angeles came back in the second period with a power play goal from Jarret Stoll and an unassisted effort from Marian Gaborik to take a 2-1 lead. However, the Kings lead was short lived, with Matt Nieto sneaking the puck past Jonathan Quick to draw even midway through the second.
The Kings regained the lead less than one minute into the final period when Jeff Carter found the back of the net, but the Sharks wouldn’t back down and received the equilizer off of the stick of Tomas Hertl.
Intensity continued to pick up as the third period progressed, with Quick resorting to tripping Logan Couture and holding his leg to prevent another scoring opportunity for the Sharks.
With two minutes left to go, Jarret Stoll took a bad penalty for interference after delivering a hit to Couture, which gave San Jose a power play opportunity to finish out regulation, but the Kings penalty kill unit came up big to force overtime.
Los Angeles had a great opportunity in the first two minutes of overtime with the puck bouncing around the front of the Sharks net, but they were unable to come up with a goal. The Kings continued to keep the pressure on San Jose, but Antti Niemi was coming up huge for the Sharks.
After the Kings dominated most of the first seven minutes of overtime, Patrick Marleau unloaded an incredible backhander to beat Jonathan Quick after being deflected off of the stick by Slava Voynov to give San Jose a 4-3 win in overtime and a commanding 3-0 lead in the series. The game-winner was San Jose’s only shot of the overtime period.