James Reimer made 39 saves in regulation time in overtime but couldn’t stop Trevor Moore in the fourth round of the shootout as the San Jose Sharks lost 3-2 to the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Reimer made 32 saves during the first three periods and seven more in overtime, but only Kevin Labanc was able to score for the Sharks in the shootout, as San Jose fell to 0-2-0 against the Kings this season.
Timo Meier had a goal and assisted on Labanc’s second-period goal that gave San Jose a 2-1 lead. But with the game tied 2-2, the Sharks missed opportunities to take the lead for good, as they were unable to capitalize on power plays late in the third period and overtime.
Despite having a power play, with Kings center Phillip Danault serving a slashing penalty, the Sharks were outshot 7-0 in the extra session.
The Sharks now with a season-long four-game point streak (2-0-2), return home after the game and will play the Calgary Flames at SAP Center on Sunday night.
Reimer was making his second straight start since he came off injured reserve on Monday. Reimer re-aggravated a lower-body injury on Nov. 25, as he stopped 24 of 28 shots in a 5-2 loss to the Kings at SAP Center.
The Sharks (10-16-6) had a slow start Saturday but were tied 1-1 with the Kings after 20 minutes.
With Radim Simek serving a tripping penalty, Phillip Danault carried the puck into the Sharks’ zone, was given too much room to operate, and was able to beat Reimer in close to give the Kings a 1-0 lead 5:54 into the first period. It was the ninth power-play goal the Sharks have given up in the last six games.
The Sharks were outshot 10-2 in the first eight minutes of the opening period but were able to tie the game later on with a power play goal of their own.
Erik Karlsson sent a shot on net and Logan Couture was able to get a stick on the rebound. He poked the puck over to Meier, who tapped it on from right next to the net, tying the game 1-1 with his 15th goal of the season.
The Sharks took a 2-1 lead at the 15:26 mark of the second period on Labanc’s seventh goal of the season, as he took a back pass from Meier and blasted it past Kings goalie Pheonix Copley.
Los Angeles got that goal back 50 seconds later. After a Kings forecheck, Mikey Anderson put a shot on net and the rebound came out to Jaret Anderson-Dolan, who fired it past Reimer for his third goal of the season.
Although Sharks coach David Quinn liked how his team played in recent wins over the Anaheim Ducks and Arizona Coyotes, victories which represented the team’s first back-to-back wins in a month, the Kings figured to be a much stiffer challenge.
The Kings were coming off a six-game road trip in which they went 3-2-1 against Eastern Conference teams, including a 3-2 shootout victory over Boston on Thursday, handing the Bruins just their second loss on home ice this season.
Los Angeles had battled some inconsistencies of late, going 4-3-3 in its last 10 games, but still entered Saturday in second place in the Pacific Division.
The Sharks want to be closer to a .500 points percentage once their Christmas break begins next Friday.
Quinn said once the break hits, he wants the players “to feel good about the results, but mainly feel good about the way we play and the direction of our game, and I certainly feel like we’ve accomplished that so far since we’ve been back from our trip.”
