Kahkonen makes 44 saves, Sharks recover for shootout win against Kings

LOS ANGELES -- Kaapo Kahkonen made 44 saves and two in the shootout, and the San Jose Sharks recovered for a 4-3 win against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Monday.

Fabian Zetterlund, William Eklund and Justin Bailey scored for the Sharks (12-31-4), who will try for their first three-game winning streak of the season when they host the New York Rangers on Tuesday. They are 3-2-1 in their past six.

“We’ve had our ups and downs this season,” Eklund said. “I think we’re playing a lot better.”

Drew Doughty scored with 1:58 remaining in the third period, and Quinton Byfield had a goal and an assist for the Kings (22-13-9), who have lost 11 of their past 13 games (2-6-5). David Rittich made 27 saves in his third straight start.

“I wouldn’t say the season’s slipping away, but I would say there is concern and there is some frustration, definitely frustration,” Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. “I’ll reiterate three should be plenty for us right now. It’s not often we get three or four the way we’re scoring. … We’re chasing it both ways. We tried to fix the offense and there’s something going wrong with the defense, and vice versa.”

Doughty tied it 3-3 on the power play with a slap shot from the high slot after Kahkonen was penalized for delay of game for shooting the puck over the glass.

Logan Couture and Zetterlund scored in the shootout for the Sharks, and Kakhonen made saves against Trevor Moore and Adrian Kempe.

“Unfortunate the way the third goal went in for them, and we survived overtime,” San Jose coach David Quinn said. “Just a real gutsy win coming in here, playing the way we did.”

Zetterlund gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 7:46 of the second period during a delayed penalty, chipping in his 14th goal from the slot after Mike Hoffman’s shot hit defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov.

Eklund made it 2-0 at 9:06 by finishing off a 2-on-1 from Nico Sturm with a wrist shot from the left face-off circle.

Eklund had gone 17 games between goals since scoring the winner in a 2-1 victory against the Winnipeg Jets on Dec. 12.

“He worked so hard for it, and probably he could shoot some more pucks in the games before, but he has a good shot,” Zetterlund said.

Moore cut it to 2-1 at 17:06 with a wrist shot from the right circle for his 21st goal.

Byfield tied it 2-2 at 1:33 of the third on a one-timer from the low slot set up by Kempe.

The goal came on the first shift after Byfield was moved back onto the top line with center Anze Kopitar and Kempe, with Pierre-Luc Dubois dropped down to center the third line.

“I thought they needed a little more energy, and naturally [Byfield’s] been there before and done that for that line, so that’s why that change was made,” McLellan said.

Bailey beat Rittich between his legs with a wrist shot from the slot on a breakaway to put the Sharks back in front 3-2 at 6:17.

Kahkonen stopped all 18 shots he faced in the first period, and five in overtime to force the shootout.

“You don’t want to give up that many shots,” Quinn said. “Our [defensive]-zone coverage wasn’t great tonight and we’ve got to tighten some things up. … But we’ve just got to find ways to win, and we did tonight.”

NOTES: Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro sustained an undisclosed injury on a hit into the boards by Kings center Trevor Lewis in the second period. Quinn said he expects him to miss some games. … Hoffman got his third assist during a three-game streak. … Moore had eight shots on goal. … Kings defenseman Matt Roy did not play after his wife gave birth to their first child earlier Monday.