In Los Angeles, the Kings posted three goals in the first and third periods and handed the San Jose Sharks a 6-2 loss on Thursday night.
Anze Kopitar, Carl Grundstrom and Jaret Anderson-Dolan had two points each in the with a goal apiece.
“We’re so accustomed to playing one-goal games that you don’t get the freedom to play out a lot of nights, but we earned the opportunity to do it tonight,” Los Angeles head coach Todd McLellan said. “We didn’t get cute, we didn’t get lazy, we didn’t get sloppy. We played the right way, so that was rewarding for the group as a whole.”
Calvin Petersen made 29 saves for the win.
Tomas Hertl scored both Sharks goals.
“Tonight just wasn’t good enough, and that didn’t have anything to do with being on the road,” San Jose’s Logan Couture said.
Drew Doughty collected three assists in the win.
“That was important, even that first shift,” Doughty said of the first period. “The coaches put a lot of attention on that first shift because we gave one up on the first shift last game, so we wanted to have a good start. And after we did have that first good shift, the lines just kept rolling and rolling over, and we kept them hemmed in their own zone a few times and got a three-goal lead, I believe, in the first, so it was all good.”
Alex Iafallo and Jeff Carter scored on power play chances to push the lead to 5-2 and 6-2, respectively. 
“We’ve blown a lot of third-period leads this year,” Doughty said. “If you want to be a good team in the NHL, you have to learn how to seal the deal when you have the lead and finish the game off.”
Austin Wagner had a goal for the Kings on a breakaway.
Martin Jones yielded all of the Kings goals and made 20 saves before getting the hook in the third period on a mercy call.
Alexei Melnichuk made five saves in his NHL debut in a mop up role.
“That’s not up to our standard, that goaltending,” Boughner said. “We gave him a chance to grab the net, especially with [Dubnyk] being hurt. We’re not expecting him to win hockey games for us standing on his head. But we’ve got to have solid goaltending, especially at the beginning of games. It’s just not up to our standard, and I’m sure it’s not up to his own.”
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