It’s frustrating, having one of the best games you have played this year, only to fall short in the final seconds of the game. Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky held his head high before facing the media. The San Jose Sharks were so close, yet fell to the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 in regulation. The Sharks outshot the Kings 40-14 and had 44 scoring chances to the Kings’ 13, according to Natural Stat Trick, but the score simply didn’t end up in San Jose’s favor.
First period
The puck hit the ice at 8:14 on Tuesday night, and the Kings won the opening faceoff. And off the five-minute jump, Yaroslav Askarov was holding very strong. The Kings are a team that keeps puck control well, but the Sharks’ defense was holding strong with two blocked shots and solid saves by Askarov.
The Sharks were almost able to set up a solid shot with the Wennberg-William Eklund-Philipp Kurashev line, but it resulted in a Kings’ power play. Timothy Liljegren yelled in frustration as he was sent to the penalty box for tripping. It was the first power play of the night.
However, the defense really showed through during the penalty, keeping the puck away until one second after Liljegren got back on the ice. With accidental help from Dmitry Orlov and assists from Alex Leferriere, Brandt Clarke and Corey Perry were able to slide one past Askarov.
Following this, Sam Dickinson was benched for the remainder of the period.
William Eklund was looking on top of things; he was moving the puck well and was very alert. In that, the Sharks were able to be on their first power play of the night due to Jeff Malott’s slashing on Eklund. But sadly, there was no production.
For the remaining four minutes of the period, the Kings were barely budging. LA kept the Sharks in their own zone, up until the Sharks were on another power play, courtesy of a trip by Clarke. And yet again, the Sharks couldn’t capitalize though this power play looked better than the first.
The period ended 1-0 in favor of Los Angeles, but San Jose outshot them by one (8-7).
Second period
The second frame started slower, but Dickinson was back on the ice.
But the Kings were able to find their way into the net again at 16:39, a shot by Malott assisted by Perry and Joel Edmundson. Perry now had one goal and one assist for the game.
After the faceoff, the Sharks got a good chance, followed by another very close attempt by Kurashev, which just didn’t go in, and was blocked by Mikey Anderson.
Kurashev hit his stick on the ground after a large sigh, something the whole arena felt.
And it worsened, with Drew Doughty’s tap-in at 6:32 seconds in, his first goal of the season, assisted by Brian Dumoulin and Alex Turcotte.
And yeah, being down three nothing will throw some momentum off for San Jose, as the next few minutes were about grounding themselves.
And that they did, they were dominating the period and created a lot more chances, and eventually it paid off. Will Smith was fed a pass from Macklin Celebrini and Tyler Toffoli, his third goal of the season. The pass was clean, with Smith waiting right by the post, a no-looker.
And then they struck again at 17:16. Kurashev was ready when Wennberg spun around, and it flew right over Kuemper’s leg and into the goal, His second of the season.
The Kings at the 15-minute mark had only 2 shots on goal, compared to the Sharks’ 13, but both LA shots were goals. Bizzare.
Third period
The first minute was a bit of back and forth, and after two more, the Sharks were on the team’s third power play with a holding call on Malott.
At 4:48, Wennberg was fed passes from Skinner and Kurashev, and the Sharks tied the game up.
The crowd roared, chanting “Beat LA”, and it echoed through the SAP Center. Another penalty was called on LA for slashing by Drew Doughty. A fourth power play was upon the Sharks, and they were 0 for 3.
Looking at this heat map from Natural Stat Trick, the Sharks had been completely dominating the last two periods. Michael Misa had 6 shots on goal at this point in the game (he finished with eight), and there were still ten minutes left.
Askarov made a big save on Kempe, and the team was still holding very solidly. The game went back to a tug of war until Clarke got one in with 6:40 left.
The Sharks did not give up.
Askarov was pulled in the last 2 minutes. Could San Jose tie it up again? The timeout was called with 1:48 left, the crowd cheering; it was now or never. The Sharks were in luck. With no goalie, a delay of the game penalty was called on LA, and another timeout was called.
But nothing came of it. And the game ended 4-3, Kings.
Postgame
The Sharks played a really good game following the second period, a clear difference from all the games so far this season.
It was tight and connected. After the game, Warsofsky told the media he felt the team was getting closer to its identity.
“Their identity is coming. It’s coming, and I’ll keep saying that, but we played hard tonight. I give credit to the group. They worked hard, they battled back. Just obviously came up a little short,” he said.
He knows that they are close. He knows that there are just a few minor things to work on to become an NHL team that competes hard.
“You have to compete. You have to win pucks. And I thought we did the best we’ve done all year… you could tell we were getting into our structure, and we were communicating. Our guys were engaged,” he added, which is nothing short of true.
The Sharks are on track to bringing that level of compete, it’s only a matter of time.
Scoring summary Los Angeles Kings at San Jose Sharks Oct. 28, 2025
First Period
10:54 LAK Corey Perry from Brandt Clarke and Alex Lafrerriere
Second Period
3:21 LAK Jeff Malott from Corey Perry and Joel Edmundson
6:43 LAK Drew Doughty from Brian Dumoulin and Alex Turcotte
15:33 SJS Will Smith from Macklin Celebrini and Tyler Toffoli
17:16 SJS Philipp Kurashev from Alex Wennberg and William Eklund
Third Period
4:48 SJS Alex Wennberg from Philipp Kurashev and Jeff Skinner
13:20 LAK Brandt Clarke from Adrian Kempe and Joel Edmundson
