SAN JOSE, Calif. — Martin Jones had a moment he’d like to have back Friday, as Los Angeles Kings forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan scored on a shot from below the San Jose Sharks’ goal line early in the third period.
Jones, though, was still the Sharks’ best player against the Kings, something that’s been a theme almost throughout this season when facing his former team.
Jones finished with 32 saves, including 23 in the first two periods, as the Sharks beat their Southern California rivals 5-2 at SAP Center and made up some ground in the West Division playoff chase.
Kevin Labanc, Patrick Marleau and Rudolfs Balcers all scored in the first period and the Sharks held on from there to improve to 6-1-0 against Los Angeles this season. The two teams meet for the final time this season on Saturday. Dylan Gambrell and Tomas Hertl rounded out the scoring for the Sharks in the third period.
The Sharks had a 3-1 lead after two periods thanks in large part to Jones, who stopped breakaway chances by both Alex Iafallo and Trevor Moore and also denied the Kings on a 3-on-1. Jones made 11 saves in the second period.
The start of the third period provided some adversity for Jones.
With Jones deep in his net, Anderson-Dolan’s shot from the corner to the right of the Sharks net seemed to handcuff the goalie as the puck went off his left pad and through his legs at the 1:02 mark the third period.
The Sharks (18-17-4) held on from there, as they moved to within three points of the Arizona Coyotes for fourth place in the West. The Coyotes lost to the Vegas Golden Knights 7-4, and the St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild 9-1 to move one point back of Arizona.
The Sharks had a 3-1 lead after one period.
After the Kings took a 1-0 lead on a goal from Alex Iafallo at the 2:27 mark of the first period, the Sharks struck for three goals in span of 9 minutes and 16 seconds.
Labanc scored on a Sharks rush, beating Kings goalie Cal Petersen with a wrist shot from just above the circles for his 10th goal of the season. Marleau followed that with his second goal in as many games, as a Brent Burns pass went off his skate and past an out-of-position Petersen for a 2-1 Sharks lead at the 13:50 mark of the first period.
The Sharks capped the first period with Balcers’ sixth goal of the season. Erik Karlsson sprung Timo Meier for a breakaway with a stretch pass up the middle. Meier’s shot was stopped by Petersen but Balcers followed up the play and backhanded the puck into the Kings net for a 3-1 Sharks lead.
Jones made 12 saves in the first period and entered Friday with an 18-5-3 career record in 26 games against the Kings, which included a 2.15 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage. In six games against the Kings this season before Friday, Jones was 5-1-0 with a .932 save percentage, stopping 192 of 206 shots.
