Labanc, Kane each has goal, assist for Sharks in victory against Kings

LOS ANGELES -- Dylan Gambrell broke a tie late in the third period, and the San Jose Sharks defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 at Staples Center on Saturday.

The Sharks swept the Kings with their fourth straight win in the second of a back-to-back set. They won 3-0 here on Friday.
"I think we're making strides," Sharks captain Logan Couture said. "We're in a spot right now with 19 games left to make a push and see where we end up, so I'm definitely happy with how we've played this last stretch."

Gambrell put the Sharks up 3-2 at 15:23. Kings goalie Jonathan Quick was slow to play the puck out from behind his own net, giving John Leonard time to steal it and pass to Gambrell for a shot into an open goal.
"Johnny did all the work there, so I can't take too much credit," Gambrell said. "He went end to end there and did all the work, and I was just there to tap it in, so kudos to him."
Kevin Labanc and Evander Kane each had a goal and an assist for San Jose (17-16-4). Martin Jones made 35 saves after making 30 on Friday to improve to 7-1-1 in his past nine games.
Dustin Brown and Trevor Moore scored, and Quick made 20 saves for Los Angeles (14-16-6), which lost for the fifth time in six games.
"Lots of good things within the 60 minutes for us," Kings coach Todd McLellan said. "Aggressive, played hard, checked well. A lot more traffic in and around the net, made the goaltender work a lot more, [got a] shorthanded goal, so there were a lot of positives in that game, but it's only a moral victory. The two-point victories are what really counts at this time of the year and we've got to find a way to get a few more."
The Kings outshot the Sharks 18-5 in the first period but found themselves trailing early when Labanc scored his ninth goal to put the Sharks ahead 1-0 at 4:37.

Brown tipped in a centering pass by Anze Kopitar to tie it 1-1 at 6:55. Brown ended a season-long five-game goal drought.
"They were digging in and they had a hard, hard push when the puck dropped at the beginning of the night, and I thought it took us a while to get our legs going," Sharks coach Bob Boughner said. "It's a period like that, we come out 1-1 and we got outshot badly and are still in position to change the game, and we did that in the second period."
Kane gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead at 15:04 of the second, stretching around Quick to score into an open net.
Moore tied it 2-2 at 19:06, taking the puck from Kane in the neutral zone before tapping in his own rebound from close range for his second shorthanded goal of the season.
Moore is one of 12 NHL players with multiple shorthanded goals this season. Columbus Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson leads the NHL with four.
"On the penalty kill, you know if you're on it, first and foremost, you've got to get your clears and you've got to be solid defensively," Moore said. "The offensive stuff is great when it happens. You only got to do it when it presents itself. You can't be forcing it, for sure."
NOTES:Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic did not play the final two periods because of an upper-body injury. Boughner said Vlasic would be evaluated in San Jose on Sunday. … Jones is 5-1-0 with a 2.37 goals-against average and .932 save percentage against the Kings this season. … Jones is 18-5-3 in his NHL career against the Kings. … Sharks defenseman Nikolai Knyzhov had an assist, his third straight game with a point (one goal, two assists). … Brown has scored six points (three goals, three assists) in six games against the Sharks this season.