Sharks Pull Off Miraculous Comeback, Defeat Kings 8-5 at Rookie
Day two of the Golden State Rookie Faceoff is in the books, as the San Jose Sharks defeated the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday afternoon. The Sharks’ portion of the event in Irvine has come to a close, as the only remaining game will be between the Kings and the Anaheim Ducks tomorrow afternoon.
Entering the games, the Sharks made a few changes from the night before. Cam Lund is day-to-day with an upper-body injury following a controversial hit late in the game against the Ducks. Meanwhile, Joshua Ravensbergen and Luca Cagnoni were taken out of the lineup as healthy scratches. Jack Bar and Noah Beck entered the lineup, giving the Sharks 11 forwards and seven defensemen. Meanwhile, between the pipes, Matt Davis got the start but split the time with Christian Kirsch.
The Kings got off to a hot start, with Koehn Ziemmer scoring just 15 seconds into the game. Just over a minute later, Parker Berge scored on another odd-man rush, extending the Kings’ lead to 2-0 within two minutes of puck drop. Kirill Kirsanov’s shot from the point off a Faceoff made it 3-0 just under halfway through the first period. Kenta Isogai joined the Kings’ goal-scoring party with just over five minutes remaining in the first frame.
It was clear right out of the gate that the Sharks were fatigued, both mentally and physically, due to the quick turnaround between games. As a result, decision-making was off, which created multiple chances for their opposition. The well-rested Kings were also a step quicker, and it was an overall struggle for the Sharks in the first period.
The Sharks had an opportunity to turn things around with 3:09 remaining in the period, as they got their first power play of the night. Isaiah Saville made a couple of saves for the Kings during the penalty kill, and the Sharks failed to convert on their man advantage.
The second period instantly started out with more grittiness than the first. There were a couple of scrums early, then Braden Hache was given an…
