Anze Kopitar, Kings get back on track in 3-0 win over Sharks

Kings center Anze Kopitar shoots against San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns.

Associated Press

March 17, 2022 9:44 PM PT

Anze Kopitar scored on the power play, Cal Petersen made 29 saves and the L.A. Kings beat the San Jose Sharks 3-0 on Thursday night.

Phillip Danault and Adrian Kempe each scored a goal, Sean Durzi had two assists, and the Kings avoided being swept in the four-game season series against the Sharks.

James Reimer allowed two goals on 26 shots, and the Sharks had their four-game point streak snapped. San Jose was called for a season-high six penalties.

Kopitar ended a 10-game goal drought when he scored on a wrist shot through traffic at 6:57 of the second period. It was just his second goal in the past 18 games, and it was apparent the frustration had been building for the normally measured Kings captain after he tried to break his stick after missing a short-handed chance against Colorado on Tuesday and threw a water bottle down the tunnel when the Avalanche scored on the power play at the other end in a 3-0 loss.

Kopitar’s sixth power-play goal also brought a larger measure of relief to a special teams group that had been nearly invisible over the previous 10 games. Los Angeles had been in a 2-for-17 funk, often struggling simply to get the puck into the offensive zone cleanly.

For San Jose, it ended a stretch of surprisingly dominance on the penalty kill. The Sharks had operated at a 96.2% (51 for 53) clip in their previous 17 games.

Danault made it 2-0 late in the second, batting in the rebound of Durzi’s shot from the blue line. The second line of Danault and Trevor Moore, who had the secondary assist, had been driving the scoring for the Kings while Kopitar and company had been struggling, but those two each ended a three-game run without contributing a point.

Kempe added an empty-netter with 2:57 remaining in the third, his first in 11 games.