Quick bites: Sharks lose season series to Kings

As has been the case for most of the meetings between the San Jose Sharks and the Los Angeles Kings this season, the Sharks could not seem to find their way through the Kings’ stifling defense. San Jose was unable to get many shots on goal or sustain any dangerous offense for more than a handful of seconds in the game. The sustained zone time the team did manage was kept to the outside for the most part, and shots on the net were blocked; sticks were tied up. What resulted was a 2-1 Kings win and a 3-1 series win for Los Angeles.

Bad bounces and missed plays

If there’s such a thing as puck luck, then the Sharks certainly didn’t have it last night. Shots on the Kings’ goal often hit the Sharks player in front of the net. The rebounds on the shots that did get through seemed to bounce to the closest Kings player, even if there was a Sharks player nearby as well.

Sometimes, you can break the “bad puck luck” by creating your own chances. The Sharks seemed unable or unwilling to do that. By the halfway point of the game, San Jose only had nine shots on goal. By the end of the game, the shot clock had hit 16.

San Jose was unable to get pucks on net, so even plays that seemed like good opportunities didn’t generate scoring chances. What’s more, the Kings were very good at tying up sticks in front of the net, protecting their goaltender from high-danger shots.

As the game wore on, the Sharks seemed to be looking for the perfect play instead of shooting more. It’s as though the lack of offensive opportunities in the beginning of the game made them shot shy. By the end, players were passing up okay opportunities to score in favor of a hopefully better option with an extra pass. It did not do them any favors.

Klim Kostin scored with less than two minutes left in the game, and by then, it was too little, too late.

Blackwood fallible at the start

For the first time in a long time, Mackenzie Blackwood did not bring his A-game.

In any other game, Blackwood would have stopped at least one, if not both of the Kings’ goals.

On the first one, Adrian Kempe came in on the breakaway and just flat-out beat Blackwood.

JUICE IS LOOSE! pic.twitter.com/7lhsGnsRDq

— LA Kings (@LAKings) April 5, 2024

The second one, which gave Akil Thomas his first career NHL goal, came on a shot that Blackwood would have picked up in another game.

AKIL THOMAS YOU HAVE SCORED IN THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/roJKcHM2O5

— LA Kings (@LAKings) April 5, 2024

While Blackwood pulled it together for the final 40 minutes, the team could not lift him up when he needed it. That’s unfortunate, considering how many times he’s lifted his teammates up this season.

Studnicka gets another shot at the NHL

Forward Jack Studnicka had another chance to prove that he is ready for the NHL. Last night, he centered a line of Thomas Bordeleau and Filip Zadina. Sutdnick had 9:52 of ice time at even strength and 3:46 on the penalty kill. While he didn’t score, he did find some chemistry with Bordeleau and Zadina and seemed to give that line a little jump. After the game, he said he felt good.

“I thought I broke up a couple plays on the penalty kill,” said Studnicka. “It’s nice to be trusted by the coach in that situation. I was going out there with the proven penalty killer in Sturm-y. So letting him take charge…take some pointers, but it was a lot of fun working with him.”

Head Coach David Quinn also liked Studnicka’s contributions on the penalty kill.

“Jack had a good game,” said Quinn. “I didn’t love our team’s first period; I thought we played much better during the second and third. But Jack, in particular, I thought he got his legs under him…as the game got going, he did a good job killing penalties. I liked his like his game in all three zones.”

Highlight of the game Kings at Sharks April 4, 2024

Our highlight of the game is the Sharks lone goal. Kostin finishes off a quick passing play. William Eklund finds Mikael Granlund in some open ice. Granlund quickly passes it to Kostin, who one-times it. It was a speedy play that the Sharks had been lacking for most of the night.

Kostin makes it a one-goal game 🙌 pic.twitter.com/qDSQV16NZz

— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) April 5, 2024