The Sharks returned home to face division rivals the LA Kings. After getting off to a great start, the Kings were leading the division going into the night, with the Sharks just one point behind. As is typical after a long road trip, the Sharks got off to a slow start. Evgeni Nabokov was able to keep them in the game, weathering the early storm from the Kings. The first period also featured the only 4 minor penalties of the game, 2 for each team. Neither team was able to capitalize on their power play time, nor the 4-on-4 resulting from the Kings penalty while they were on the power play. Being out shot 13 to 5, the Sharks had to be happy to come out of the first period with a scoreless tie.
The Kings got on the scoreboard first with Alexander Frolov working a wraparound try in front. His shot was going wide, but was deflected by Marc-Edouard Vlasic past Nabokov for the 1-0 lead. This happened shortly after an icing where we had gotten a partial change in. This left the mixed defensive pair of Dan Boyle and Vlasic out there.
The goal against seemed to awaken the sleeping monster and the Sharks started to play with more life. Six and a half minutes later, Douglas Murray passed the puck up to Patrick Marleau in the neutral zone. Marleau was able to accelerate by Matt Greene, charging into the left face-off circle. Marleau then ripped a shot from just outside the dot to even the game at 1. Dan Boyle, coming off a broken thumb, got the other assist.
That was it for the scoring in regulation, with the Sharks outshooting the Kings 14-6 in the second. The third period was fairly even, but a tad sloppy with each time giving the puck away. The shots in the third period and overtime were much more even, slight edge to the Sharks in the third 9-7, but the Kings edged the Sharks 3-2 in OT.
In the shootout, the Kings took the early lead with Michal Handzus scoring after Marleau was denied. The Sharks' third shooter, Dany Heatley, was able to score to keep the Sharks' hopes alive. It was scoreless for the next two rounds, then Ryane Clowe got the nod. As Clowe has not scored a goal yet after signing a new contract for a decent raise, he needed to score to give him a little confidence. Clowe came through with a nice backhand. Jarret Stoll was then stoned by Nabokov to win the shootout 2-1.
Third star went to Frolov, second to Marleau, and first to Nabokov, but he make Clowe do the immediate post-game interview.
Again, not the best start, but not terribly surprising after a 6-game road trip. Still, not getting out of the shoot very well, and again giving up the first goal of the game are habits they'll want to break.
With Torrey Mitchel and Joe Pavelski practicing with the team, we know that we should see them back in the lineup soon. That should help get some players back to playing their proper roles. That said, one of the biggest things is that Patrick Marleau seems to be one of those players that plays better when he's not wearing the captain's C. I'm hearing people saying now that he's more of a leader now that he's not the captain. Won't it be interesting if he has his best year after losing the captaincy?
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