Sharks 6, Kings 3
Ryane Clowe tallied twice for the second straight contest and Antti Niemi stopped 35 shots as the San Jose Sharks pushed the Los Angeles Kings to the brink of elimination with a 6-3 road triumph on Thursday in Game 4 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.
Joe Pavelski scored for the second straight contest and captain Joe Thornton, Torrey Mitchell and defenseman Jason Demers also tallied for Pacific Division champion San Jose, which will look to wrap up the series at HP Pavilion on Saturday.
Calder Trophy finalist Logan Couture, Kyle Wellwood and defenseman Ian White notched a pair of assists apiece for the Sharks.
San Jose opened the scoring 3:58 into the second period after Kings defenseman Alec Martinez accidentally shot the puck into his own net. Clowe was the last Sharks player to touch the puck, so he was credited with the tally.
After Demers scored 74 seconds later, Clowe netted his second goal of the game and fourth of the series following a spirited scrum on the doorstep.
Although Brad Richardson and Justin Williams tallied nearly five minutes apart to trim San Jose's lead to 3-2 after two periods, Thornton and Pavelski scored 54 seconds apart in the third to put the game out of reach.
Alexei Ponikarovsky also tallied and Jonathan Quick turned aside 21 shots for seventh-seeded Los Angeles, which went 0-for-6 on the power play.