Kings Finally Win 2 Straight With Shootout Victory Over Sharks

The Los Angeles Kings have won back-to-back games for the first time in over a month Saturday night. Defeating the San Jose Sharks 3-2 in the shootout.

The Kings started hot and Phil Danault opened the scoring with a great individual effort. Timo Meier hit back with a power-play goal of his own 13 minutes into the first to tie the game at one. 

The Sharks took the lead with 5 minutes remaining in the second period. But the Kings hit right back with a goal from Jaret Anderson-Dolan. Marking Anderson-Dolan's second goal and third point against the Sharks this season.

Responding well to goals against has been a problem all season for the Kings. So, getting a big response from a young fourth line was huge.

"Really important shift," said Todd McLellan of the goal. "They had scored, I think, it was two or three minutes after we got a little momentum back, got our forecheck going again. Which fell off in the second period, I thought. It was a simple goal, we tried to make a lot of homerun passes halfway through the game through the middle of the rink. We finally played north, went to the pads a couple of times and JAD (Anderson-Dolan) found a rebound. It was a timely goal, it got us back on track, evened up the game and it was from our fourth line. A lot of real positives there."

That fourth line of Anderson-Dolan-Kupari-Vilardi had a solid game throughout. They played with the pace, tenacity and skill you want from a line comprised of young, top-two-round picks. Each player utilized their strengths well and frequently outplayed their opposition. 

Pheonix Copley once again put in a solid performance in net. Posting a .920 save percentage, .98 goals saved above expected and three saves in the shootout. Again, the Kings don't need their goalie to stand on their head. They just need a solid performance that doesn't lose them games and they got it from Copley. 

Just like in Boston, Trevor Moore scored the game-winner in the shootout. Beating Reimer between the pad and blocker. 

It was a season debut for defensemen Jordan Spence and his first game since last season's playoffs. His pairing with Alex Edler was solid all night and posted positive analytics across the board. McLellan said during morning skate that the team wanted him to add on weight and strength over the summer and he did. According to Spence, he added eight-nine pounds of muscle this summer and it showed.

When asked about the impact of adding more strength on his game Spence said:

"Yeah, I also think I know what to expect up in the NHL with the experience I had last year. So, for me I just wanted to gain some weight, get bigger, a little strong, bigger, faster. So, obviously, it's going to take some time but I'm happy with the progress I had this summer. 

The King's next game is Tuesday at home against the Anaheim Ducks. The first installment of the Freeway Faceoff this season. And the Kings will be looking to put together their first win streak in some time.