Macklin Celebrini, Sharks rally to edge the Kings in OT
LOS ANGELES — A pair of Pacific Division rivals needed a pregame triage before taking the ice for the San Jose Sharks’ narrow victory over the Kings, 4-3, in overtime on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
The Kings were missing captain Anže Kopitar (lower-body injury), Corey Perry (personal), Trevor Moore (upper-body injury) and Joel Armia (upper-body injury) from a forward group that was already left a man short by the trade of Phillip Danault for a draft pick. Wednesday would have marked Kopitar’s 100th and final regular-season meeting with San Jose.
In place of those four absent attackers, who had a combined 3,998 games of NHL experience, skated Jeff Malott, Andre Lee, Taylor Ward and seventh defenseman Jacob Moverare. That quartet was decidedly less seasoned with 160 combined appearances.
San Jose was without half a dozen players, most notably forward Will Smith.
Entering the tilt, the Kings had taken two straight games but just four of their past 12 decisions. San Jose had prevailed in four of its last five outings.
Alex Turcotte and Kevin Fiala assisted on each other’s goals, and Alex Laferriere also scored for the Kings. Darcy Kuemper made 24 saves.
Macklin Celebrini scored a goal, set up the overtime game-winner by William Eklund, engineered one for former King Tyler Toffoli and was on the ice for Adam Gaudette’s marker. Yaroslav Askarov stopped 23 shots.
In overtime, Quinton Byfield was all alone with Askarov but couldn’t seal the deal early.
That opened the door for Celebrini to force a turnover, lead a two-on-one rush and set up a no-doubt winner for Eklund with 1:52 displayed on the OT clock.
With 2:10 remaining in regulation, the Kings earned their first lead of the night, only to hand it back 1:04 later. San Jose struck with its goalie pulled, giving them no five-on-five goals on Wednesday.
Celebrini hit the zone with speed, found quiet ice behind the play and got the puck back to weave through five adversaries and deliver a laser that effectively guaranteed the Sharks at least one point.
Joel Edmundson, who had a goal disallowed earlier, found a loose puck and cranked a slap shot. It struck defender Mario Ferraro before being redirected home by Laferriere for the Kings’ first lead of the night, though it proved ephemeral.
The Kings had nearly pulled ahead with 7:51 to play.
The exact same five players were on the ice as the Kings’ first two goals – Turcotte, Fiala, Andrei Kuzmenko, Brandt Clarke and Edmundson – and they appeared to score a greasy one. Edmundson was pushed from behind as the puck propelled forward off of him. Yet upon video review, it was determined he effectively batted the puck in with his glove.
San Jose earned a 2-1 edge with its second power-play goal of the evening at 5:38 but the Kings equalized in short order, 62 seconds later.
A shot off the end boards left Turcotte to contend with two Sharks in front. He won the battle and slid the puck to Fiala for his 16th goal, giving him sole possession of the team lead.
The Sharks had gone ahead off some more Celebrini magic, though after breaking down the defense he ultimately did not earn an assist on Gaudette’s successful tip of Timothy Liljegren’s shot.
Neither team hit the twine in the first period but the two sides swapped goals in the second.
The Kings tied the score at the 11:34 mark. Clarke set up Fiala for two shot attempts, the second of which generated a rebound and created a scramble. Turcotte found the puck and popped in for his third goal of the season.
Though the Kings had the game’s first two power plays, it was the Sharks’ man-advantage unit opening the scoring, 4:20 in the middle frame.
Nearly 40 seconds of sustained pressure culminated in a slam-dunk goal for Toffoli. Celebrini’s heave from the right point created a rebound for Alex Wennberg. He made a no-look pass between his legs and Alex Laferriere’s, finding the 2014 Stanley Cup champ at the back post.
Celebrini has recorded a point on 67 of San Jose’s 130 goals and has a 12-game scoring streak.
More to come on this story.