In Los Angeles, Timo Meier scored in the third period for the San Jose Sharks to get them even with the Kings,2-2, but Gabriel Vilardi and Drew Doughty scored 53 seconds apart just past the midway point of the third to give the Kings a 4-2 lead en route to a 4-3 win on Tuesday night.
San Jose’s Tomas Hertl scored late to close the gap.
LA improved to 25-14-6.
“Well, it wasn’t our finest game, honestly,” Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. “I didn’t think that we had the details or the commitment to winning that was needed. … There were some areas of the game, I thought we cheated it a little bit, and we clearly need to have a practice or two, which we will get, but when you’re not playing your best, it’s nice to find a way to win.”
Pheonix Copley made 27 saves in the Kings win.
Copley has moved his record to 12-2-0 since being called up from the Ontario Reign in the American Hockey League.
“‘Cops’ has been unbelievable in his couple games here,” LA’s Quinton Byfield said. “We trust him a lot. It allows you to make a couple more offensive plays, just to know you’ve got a guy like that back there.”
San Jose dropped to 13-22-8.
“This is not easy, the season we’ve gone through,” San Jose coach David Quinn said. “There’s a lot of level of frustration because we feel like we’ve played better, but our record is what it is. I’m just proud of the way we competed and didn’t give up. Even at 4-2, we kept playing and had chances to tie.”
Adrian Kempe scored in the first period to give the Kings a 1-0 lead.
The lead held until San Jose evened the game, 1-1, in the early second period on a strike from Nick Bonino.
“We’re there every game and just can’t get wins,” Bonino said. “It’s frustrating for everyone. We’re trying everything in practice and video, competing, and it’s just not going our way right now.”
LA reclaimed the lead on a goal by Byfield in the second.
“It was good to see him get rewarded around the net. Maybe that will give him some offensive confidence,” McLellan said. “He’s had some looks since going up on the wing and it hasn’t gone in for him, and you could sense a bit of frustration.”
James Reimer made 33 saves in the Sharks loss.
“I thought we played real decent, good enough to win,” Reimer said. “Once again, it comes down to a one-goal game. … It’s just a matter of trying to get over that hump.”
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