On the back end of a home-and-home set with the Sharks in San Jose, the Los Angeles Kings got 26 saves from Peter Budaj in a 2-1 OT win Tuesday night.
“That’s big. We’ve been talking about these two games ever since we got out of Edmonton. We were looking forward to the challenge. We obviously love playing against these guys. It’s a great rivalry, and it was good to beat them both times,” LA’s Drew Doughty said of the sweep.
With less than a minute gone in the extra session, Tanner Pearson potted the winner.
“I just kind of hung out by the blue line until (Jeff) Carter crossed the blue line and went down on a 2-on-1 and finished it off,” Pearson said.
Carter led a 2-on-1 break after a turnover.
“We know what we’re getting into when we play them,” Carter said. “We have some ground to make up on them and a lot of teams in our division. We really keyed on these games and good to get four [points].”
Martin Jones took the loss on 33 saves.
Logan Couture was the lone Sharks goal scorer who fell to 23-13-2 on the season.
“I thought we created a lot in the third,” Couture said. “We’re just not finishing right now, and really all season. We gave up a chance in overtime, and they buried it. It is disappointing. We had a great opportunity. We didn’t bring our best game. Give them credit, they played well. They took it to us at the start of both of these games.”
WATCH: All Kings vs. Sharks highlights
Carter, who has seven goals and nine points in his seven games had a goal in regulation.
“He’s on fire, and we need it obviously,” Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. “He’s really put a charge in the team.”
The Sharks were playing without two defensemen including Marc-Edouard Vlasic and David Schlemko.
“We got better as the game went on. We found a way to get a point. We wanted two. I don’t know if we deserved two or not,” San Jose head coach Peter DeBoer said after the loss. “But it’s that time of year. When you take out the guys we have out of the lineup, and everyone’s dealing with injuries, but it changes your team. But you’ve got to find a way. You scratch and claw and it’s not going to look great every night, and that’s the reality of it.”
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