San Jose had allowed one power-play goal in its previous 13 games, killing 38 of 39 penalties (97.4 percent) in that span. It was the fourth power-play goal allowed in the past 23 games (61 of 65, 93.8 percent).
"The goal they scored, I mean, that'll happen from time to time, but that's not even a scoring chance. That's from way outside the dot line, so those are tough to prevent. Those are the ones that have to stay out of your net, but it's been our backbone all year, and special teams have helped us get quite a few points this year," Boughner said.
Danault made it 2-0 at 16:27, putting in Durzi's rebound while falling to his knees in the right circle.
Kempe scored into an empty net at 17:03 of the third period for the 3-0 final.
San Jose forward Tomas Hertl had two shorthanded breakaways but was unable to convert. Petersen saved Hertl's shot and rebound in quick succession at 18:45 of the second. His chance at 5:23 of the third period forced Danault to commit a slashing penalty to prevent the scoring opportunity, but Boughner believed Hertl could have been awarded a penalty shot.
"Those are big points of the game," Boughner said. "You get a penalty shot there or we score there … It was a tight game all around for both teams. Both teams didn't really give up much."
Sharks forward Timo Meier looked as if he was going to break the shutout at 14:54 of the third when his shot got behind Petersen, but Durzi was able to bat the puck out of midair and keep it from going in.
"Lucky for them, unlucky for me, but sometimes that bounce just doesn't go your way and you got to work even harder to get it, and I think we didn't do that as a team overall today," Meier said.
NOTES:Kopitar ended a run of six games without a point, the longest drought of his NHL career. … Durzi got his fourth multipoint game and led the Kings in ice time (26:22). … Kempe scored for the first time in 11 games. … Los Angeles defenseman Alexander Edler was plus-1 with two shots in 13:42 after missing 36 games with a broken ankle. … Petersen has four NHL shutouts. … Hertl had his three-game point streak end (six points; three goals, three assists) one day after agreeing to an eight-year contract. … San Jose forward Noah Gregor had two shots and two hits in 13:02 in his 100th NHL game after being scratched the previous two games. … It was their third game in eight days. The Sharks swept a home-and-home series last week, 4-3 in overtime in Los Angeles on Thursday and 5-0 in San Jose on Saturday. … San Jose plays the Colorado Avalanche on Friday.
