SAN JOSE, Calif. _ Nothing has come easy for the San Jose Sharks in the third period this month. Absolutely nothing.
Friday night's end result may have been the most disheartening of all.
Jeff Carter scored with 3:29 left in overtime, as the Los Angeles Kings handed the Sharks a devastating 3-2 loss at SAP Center in their first game after the Christmas break.
The Sharks couldn't hold a two goal lead entering the final 20 minutes of regulation time, as Martin Frk scored at the 1:30 and 18:36 mark of the third period to help send the game into overtime.
Before the third period, Joe Thornton scored his first goal of the season, Patrick Marleau had two assists and Aaron Dell made 21 saves. Thornton also assisted on Erik Karlsson's goal at the 6:16 mark of the second period.
Thornton's goal, at the 11:39 mark of the second period, snapped a 47-game goal drought that dated back to March 18 of last season. His goal capped a pretty passing sequence, as Radim Simek took a pass from Marleau before he found Thornton for a tap-in past Kings goalie Jack Campbell.
It was Thornton's first multi-point game of the season, as his assist gave him 1,078 for his career, one behind Adam Oates for seventh-most in NHL history.
It was a night for ending droughts, as Marleau's two assists ended an 11-game dry spell for points, the longest of his 22-year NHL career. Karlsson's goal was his fourth of the season and his first since Nov. 13, a 13-game drought.
The biggest thing for the Sharks, though, was the missing the two points, as they lost their fourth straight game and fell to 1-8-2 this month.
The Sharks host the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, their last home game in December before they begin a five-game road trip on New Year's Eve against the Detroit Red Wings.
Dell was making his fourth start in five games. He made 34 stops in San Jose's 3-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday and has been the team's more consistent goalie of late with a .912 save percentage in his last eight games since Nov. 21. In that same time frame, Martin Jones has an .894 save percentage in 10 games.
"His play speaks for itself," Sharks interim coach Bob Boughner said of Dell on Friday morning. "He's had some of his best games of late. It's going to be a situation here where whoever's playing the best is going to keep the net."
The Sharks got Simek and Mario Ferraro back on the blue line Friday.
Simek, who had a procedure more than two weeks ago to alleviate irritation in the meniscus in his right knee, played his first game since Dec. 7. He began Friday's game paired with Ferraro, who missed the last three games before the Christmas break with an upper body injury.
They were a welcome sight to a Sharks team that was desperate to regain its footing.
The Sharks, Kings and Anaheim Ducks entered Friday all tied for 13th place in the Western Conference with 34 points, nine points back of the second wild card spot.
