Ward's late goal lifts Sharks past Kings

LOS ANGELES --Joel Ward scored with 7:10 remaining in the third period to help the San Jose Sharks to a 2-1 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on Sunday.
Melker Karlsson scored earlier in the third period, and Martin Jones made 26 saves for San Jose (10-6-0), which won on back-to-back nights for the first time this season.

WATCH: [All Sharks vs. Kings highlights]
"That's a more typical Kings-Sharks game, and it's nice to be on the right end of it," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "It was a gritty, gutsy effort."
Dustin Brown had a power-play goal for Los Angeles (11-4-2), which has lost two straight home games in regulation after earning a point in each of its first seven. Jonathan Quick made 31 saves.
The Sharks took the lead when Barclay Goodrow's attempted centering pass struck Ward's left skate and got past Quick. Ward turned his foot slightly in an attempt to get the puck to Timo Meier, but was credited with his third goal, all of which have come in the past six games.
"I started playing soccer the last couple days," Ward said, smiling. "I actually knew Timo was on the backside and I just tried to redirect it over to his area."

The Sharks won in Los Angeles despite trailing after two periods for the third time in their history (3-28-2).
San Jose tied the game 1-1 when Karlsson scored his third goal of the season at 5:42 of the third period. After Brown whiffed on a chance to clear the puck, Tomas Hertl tried to sneak a shot in between two defenders and the puck got to Karlsson in the slot with an open net. Quick was unable to recover in time.
"We just pulled back and we weren't attacking as much as we did in the first couple of periods," Kings captain Anze Kopitar said. "They were able to capitalize on that, but it was just a couple of fluky goals, really."
Brown gave the Kings a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 8:30 of the first period when he was left all alone just outside the crease and redirected Kopitar's shot from the right circle past Jones.
Brown has eight goals in 17 games after needing 53 games to reach that total last season.
"I thought we needed to play 60 minutes tonight," Kings coach John Stevens said. "I thought we played 20 really well and then 40 the way they wanted to play."

Goal of the game

Ward's goal at 12:50 of the third period.

Save of the game

Quick's sprawling save against Brenden Dillon at 5:27 of the second period.

Highlight of the game

Jones' save against Tanner Pearson at 3:42 of the third period.

They said it

"Yeah, I mean we're not going to win 7-6 games very often. That's just kind of how we play. We don't play a very pretty style of play. We make it tough for other teams to play in our end. We're physical, we get pucks deep and we grind in [the offensive] zone, so those are the types of games that we have to win." -- Sharks goalie Martin Jones
"There's lots of issues before that ricochet happened. It may have looked like an unlucky play, but there was an awful lot of things that could have went better before the puck went in the net." -- Kings coach John Stevens on the game-deciding goal

Need to know

San Jose is 7-3-0 in its past 10 games. … Kopitar had an assist for an NHL career-best seventh straight game. He has a point in eight straight games (two goals, eight assists), also an NHL career-high.

What's next

Sharks: Host the Florida Panthers on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, FS-F, NHL.TV)
Kings:Host the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET; FS-W, SNP, NHL.TV)