Sharks power past Kings in Game 4

SAN JOSE -- The San Jose Sharks found a quick fix for their power play and used it to defeat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 in Game 4 of their Western Conference First Round series at SAP Center on Wednesday.
Brent Burns, Joe Pavelski and Patrick Marleau each scored a power-play goal, two days after the Sharks went 0-for-5 with the man-advantage in a 2-1 overtime loss in Game 3.

The Sharks lead the best-of-7 series 3-1. Game 5 is at Staples Center on Friday (10:30 p.m. ET; CNBC, CBC, TVA Sports, CSN-CA, PRIME).
Burns and Pavelski scored in the second period, and Marleau made it 3-0 early in the third, but the Sharks had to withstand a furious comeback attempt from the Kings.

Luke Schenn and Trevor Lewis scored 3:55 apart in the third period to get the Los Angeles within a goal with 13:16 left.
"I think the group felt last game we could have won the game had we cashed in on the power play," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "Even though we liked a lot of what we did, we didn't stick one in the net. I think they came out tonight to make sure that if we got opportunities, they were going to put them in, and they did that. That's the kind of group we have. They come to work the day after a loss, they look at what we can fix, and they get it fixed. I think that was the difference tonight.
"On L.A.'s part, I said all along, there's a reason they won two out of the last four [Stanley] Cups. They're not going away. No lead's safe, and this series isn't over until we find a way to win another game."
San Jose goalie Martin Jones made 26 saves, including 10 in the third period; Los Angeles goalie Jonathan Quick also had 26.
The Kings outshot the Sharks 12-5 in the third.

With Quick out of the net, Kings defenseman Drew Doughty took a shot from above the right circle with a little more than 20 seconds left, but Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic blocked it.
Los Angeles called timeout with 18.3 seconds left after San Jose iced the puck. Kings center Vincent Lecavalier won the faceoff, but Vlasic and Logan Couture each blocked a shot before time expired.
"The difference in the game was their power play," Kings forward Dwight King said. "Our [penalty kill] just wasn't there tonight. They had so many looks. We need to tighten up the PK. That group's been together for five years. They are so familiar with each other. We have to bear down on our clears."
Burns gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 2:09 of the second period with Jeff Carter in the penalty box for roughing Vlasic. He one-timed a cross-ice pass from Joel Ward past Quick from the left circle.

"It was a great [pass]," Burns said. "He's dragging that leg. He likes to take his time with everything. Froze everybody. That's a couple times where he's hit me with that, that same play where he looks like he's shooting, shooting, shooting, and he slides it over."
The goal was Burns' second of the series. The assists went to Ward and Vlasic.
The Sharks killed two Kings power plays, then went back on the man-advantage at 8:42 of the second period when Los Angeles defenseman Rob Scuderi went to the box for tripping Tomas Hertl.
Thornton fed a pass from behind the net to Pavelski, who had position in the low slot and beat Quick with a slap shot for his fourth goal of the series. Thornton and Marleau had the assists.
"We were 0-for-5 the other game, but it was better than what we might have thought it was at times," Pavelski said of the power play. "We had chances. It was good. We had to find ways to finish. It wasn't something to get frustrated about. We maybe did a little better job breaking in tonight. We had a few clean entries, which really allowed us to get moving in there, set things up, set some shots up.
"[Thornton] makes a great play over to me. See him coming around the net, jumping in and out. He's one of the best at reading that."

San Jose increased its lead to 3-0 on Marleau's power-play goal at 1:40 of the third period. He scored six seconds after Los Angeles defenseman Jamie McBain went to the penalty box for high-sticking Joonas Donskoi.
Quick stopped Couture's shot from the right circle, but Marleau controlled the rebound and beat him from the slot for his first goal of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Kings cut the Sharks lead to 3-1 at 2:49 when Schenn had a shot from the point that went off Lewis in the blue paint and got past Jones. DeBoer challenged the goal, claiming Lewis contacted Jones, but the call stood after video review determined Burns caused the contact.
Schenn made it 3-2 when he scored at 6:44 with another point shot through traffic. King provided a screen in front. Anze Kopitar and Marian Gaborik had the assists.

"It's tough to come back from a three-goal lead," Schenn said. "Our PK wasn't near as good tonight as it was last game. Special teams were a huge difference. They got three power play goals, and we didn't get any. They found a couple of seams.
"The cross-ice one from Burns was a real nice play. Then Pavelski in the slot was wide open. And the third one was a bit of a lucky bounce. But we can't spot them a three-goal lead. We have to find a way to climb back into it. I think our problem tonight was we didn't shoot near enough pucks at the net in the first two periods. We passed a couple of chances by making an extra pass."
Two years ago, the Kings rallied from down 3-0 in the first round to defeat the Sharks in seven games.
"That fourth win is always tough," Pavelski said. "Your desperation has to keep improving each game. They're going to come out, play a good game, and so are we. It's going to be a lot of the little details and tough battles. We'll have to beat them."