Friday, April 15, 2011

Doughty leads Kings past Sharks 4-0 in Game 2

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Drew Doughty had two goals and two assists, Jonathan Quick made 34 saves and the Los Angeles Kings beat the San Jose Sharks 4-0 in Game 2 on Saturday night to even their first-round series at one game apiece.

Jack Johnson and Kyle Clifford also scored for the Kings, who bounced back from an overtime loss in Game 1 to seize home-ice advantage heading back to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Tuesday night.

The Sharks took too many undisciplined penalties and were unable to generate many good offensive chances against Quick, drawing the ire of their usually supportive fans who booed the home team sporadically throughout the game. Antti Niemi allowed the four goals on 23 shots to lose for the first time in four postseason starts at the Shark Tank.

The Kings came into the game reeling a bit, having lost the opener 3-2 and then having talented center Jarret Stoll suspended for a hit from behind on Sharks defenseman Ian White in Game 1. That left Los Angeles without two of its top centers in Stoll and injured Anze Kopitar against one of the deeper teams in the NHL up the middle.

But Joe Thornton and the rest of the Sharks were unable to take advantage and San Jose was shut out in the playoffs for the first time since an overtime loss at Colorado in Game 3 of the first round to Craig Anderson and the Avalanche last season.

Quick did a good job stopping the initial shots by San Jose and gave the Sharks few rebound opportunities. The shutout by Quick was the first in the postseason for the Kings since Felix Potvin beat Colorado 1-0 in Game 5 of the first round in 2002.

Coach Terry Murray knew it would take contributions from many players for the absence of Stoll and Kopitar. Murray got that from Quick and a pair of talented, young defensemen who were inconsistent at times this season who came up with the biggest plays.

Johnson and Doughty each scored power-play goals in the first period and the Kings took control when Doughty blasted a forehand from just inside the blue line through a screen and past Niemi to make it 3-0 with 4:18 left in the second period.

Doughty became the first Los Angeles defenseman to score two goals in a playoff game since Hall of Famer Paul Coffey did it against Edmonton twice in 1992.

Clifford added a goal early in the third period, shortly after the Kings killed off a power play chance for San Jose.

After scoring just one power-play goal in the final seven regular season games, the Kings struck twice on the man advantage in the opening period after a pair of offensive zone penalties on the Sharks. Both times, the player who drew the penalty, responded with the goal in the ultimate form of payback.

The first undisciplined play came when Ben Eager slashed Johnson in a retaliatory move. Johnson capitalized with a blast from the point through a screen by Ryan Smyth to beat Niemi for his first career postseason goal.

Just a few minutes later, Ryane Clowe was called for elbowing Doughty, who responded with a blast from the high slot that gave the Kings a 2-0 lead with 4:17 remaining in the period.

NOTES: This was the fourth time the Sharks have been shut out at home in the playoffs, with the most recent coming against Anaheim in 2009. ... Dustin Penner, a big midseason acquisition by Los Angeles, has gone 14 straight games dating to the regular season without a point. ... D Justin Braun made his playoff debut for the Sharks in place of White. ... Oscar Moller got the nod for the Kings after the team was unable to get John Zeiler through re-entry waivers in time to be called up from the minors.

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