Kevin Fiala had two assists, and David Rittich made 15 saves in his debut with the Kings (18-6-4), who are 13-1-1 on the road.
Sharks defenseman Nikita Okhotiuk (83) checks Quinton Byfield (55) into the boards as they fight for the puck – Photo by Jack Lima
“The difference between home and road is we play a simple team game on the road,” Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. “We hand off good shifts. Sometimes when we’re home, we play in pieces, we extend things. We get a little too cute. So, we’ve got to take this road game and put it in [at home].”
Jacob MacDonald scored, and Kaapo Kahkonen made 35 saves for the Sharks (9-20-3), who have lost three straight and four of their past five (1-3-1).
Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlassic (44) checks Blake Lizotte (46) to the ice – Photo by Jack Lima
“They’re one of the best teams on the road, and you can see why,” San Jose center Tomas Hertl said. “They come in hard on every puck. They moved really quickly on us and there just wasn’t much.”
The Sharks have been outscored 11-3 in their past three games. They had five shots on goal in the first period, four in the second period and seven in the third period.
Kings goalie David Rittich makes a kick save on a shot by Tomas Hertl (48) – Photo by Jack Lima
“I thought we had a good first period, and then we stunk for two periods,” San Jose coach David Quinn said. “That was men amongst boys in the second and third period. They were quicker and played with more conviction.
“We’re in a little bit of a rut there, with the energy piece of it. We’ve got to get back on track.”
Kings goalie David Rittich makes a blocker save as Luke Kunin (11) looks for a rebound – Photo by Jack Lima
Kopitar gave the Kings a 1-0 lead on a power play at 17:48 of the first on a feed from Arthur Kaliyev behind the net.
Los Angeles has scored a power-play goal in six straight games.
“We have great players on two units,” Kaliyev said. “We’re a threat. Any unit that goes out there, we’re doing a good job with it.”
Kings forward Trevor Moore (12) scores a goal past Sharks goalie Kaapo Kahkonen during second period action – Photo by Jack Lima
Trevor Moore scored his 15th goal of the season at 4:07 of the second after a cross-ice pass from Fiala to make it 2-0, and Alex Laferriere extended the Kings lead to 3-0 at 5:17 when he tipped a shot by Kopitar.
Trevor Lewis made it 4-0 with a short-handed, empty-net goal at 18:12 of the third.
Kings forward Quinton Byfield (55) avoids a check attempt by Tomas Hertl (48) – Photo by Jack Lima
MacDonald scored with a shot from the point for a power-play goal at 18:41 for the 4-1 final. It was his fifth goal of the season.
“I think we could’ve done a better job as a [defense] corps breaking the puck out,” Sharks defenseman Henry Thrun said. “Overall, the team just needs to take care of the puck a bit better. They’re a good hockey team and I think they kind of took it to us tonight.”
Kings Anze Kopitar (11) and Adrian Kempe (9) attempt to screen Sharks goalie Kaapo Kahkonen as Nikita Okhotiuk (83) and Henry Thrun (3) defend – Photo by Jack Lima
NOTES: Kopitar has 70 points (27 goals, 43 assists) in 90 games against the Sharks, which is the fourth most by any player against San Jose. Teemu Selanne had 99 points (51 goals, 48 assists) in 92 games. … Kings forward Adrian Kempe played his 500th NHL game. … Hertl won 10 of 15 face-offs (66.7 percent), and Los Angeles center Pierre-Luc Dubois won 10 of 14 (71.4 percent).
Justin Bailey (90) attempts to avoid a collision with Kings goalie David Rittich as he cases the puck during a Sharks penalty kill – Photo by Jack Lima
By Chelena Goldman, NHL.com Independent Correspondent
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