FINAL – Kings 2, Sharks 7 – Kopitar, Hiller

The LA Kings equaled their most lopsided defeat of the season, in a 7-2 loss against the San Jose Sharks on Monday evenig at SAP Center.

San Jose opened the scoring just two minutes into the game, as forward Nico Sturm converted on a breakaway for the early advantage. Sturm snuck in behind the defensive pairing of Jacob Moverare and Jordan Spence and caught a stretch pass from defenseman Mario Ferraro. Sturm then went in alone on Kings netminder David Rittich and snapped home the game’s first goal, his fourth of the season, for a 1-0 advantage.

The Kings responded early in the second period via defenseman Brandt Clarke, who buried his third goal of the season to knot the score at one apiece. After a controlled zone entry between forward Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe, the latter dropped the puck to Clarke coming through the slot. The blueliner collected on his forehand and snapped a shot in side the far post, past San Jose goaltender Yaroslav Askarov, tying the game 1-1.

Midway through the middle stanza, the Kings took their first lead of the evening, with Koptiar and Kempe involved once again. After Kempe, again, gained the offensive zone with control, he combined with forward Warren Foegele to get the puck into the crease, where Kopitar eventually got the rebound into the back of the net for his team-leading 25th point of the season and a 2-1 lead.

The Sharks pushed back, however, as forward Fabian Zetterlund tied the game at two. Zetterlund, skating down the right wing, worked the puck around the Kings net and his wraparound attempt ramped up off a Kings skate, over Rittich and in for his ninth goal of the season, tying him for the San Jose team lead in goals and the game at 2-2.

In a disastrous start to the third period, San Jose scored three goals in the first four minutes of play, opening up a 5-2 lead.

First, forward Macklin Celebrini scored his first of the game and his fifth of the season, as he skated into the left-hand circle off the rush and scored clean with a wrist shot to put the hosts back on top. Defenseman Timothy Liljegren then made it 4-2, as his one-timer on a low-to-high passing play connected to beat Rittich through traffic in front. The Kings unsuccessfully challenged for goaltender interference on the Liljegren goal and Celebrini then scored on a one-timer on the ensuing power play, making it 5-2.

After a double-minor was assessed to Kevin Fiala for high sticking, the Sharks scored just four seconds into that power play, with defenseman Jake Walman getting in on the action, pushing the deficit to four goals. Forward Luke Kunin added the team’s seventh goal, with less than two minutes to play in regulation, bringing us to the 7-2 final.

Hear from Koptiar and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s defeat.

Anze Kopitar
On not being able to follow up on a strong homestand with tonight’s game
Yeah, I thought we had a good homestand, team has been playing well and for the better part of 40 minutes, we weren’t upset with our game. You’re going into the third period with a tie score, but you’ve got to make sure you maintain that and win a hockey game on the road. Obviously it went sideways on us.

On what went wrong at the start of the third period
It just seemed like we weren’t ready to start the period. They got a couple quick ones and then the challenge and it took them what, five, seven seconds to score another goal. So, it’s tough to start a period that way.

On what the team didn’t do to calm the game down after the quick goals
It’s hard, it was happening quick, so before we knew it, we were down three. Yeah, there’s still a lot of hockey left, but the minds are spinning, so it’s not the easiest thing to do, to refocus and get it going [again].

On the number of penalties the team took throughout the game and the need to reduce them
Make sure we don’t take them. I mean, a lot of them were stick penalties and we can definitely eliminate those.

Jim Hiller
On losing 7-2 after being optimistic coming off the three-game homestand
It was the third period. In the second period, we played pretty well. I think one thing people have to understand is you shouldn’t disrespect this team. That’s not a team that’s trying to tank, that’s a good hockey team, strong players, real good back end. We played them three times, they beat us twice, we barely beat them the one at home, so I want to give them the respect they deserve first. It was a hard game for 40 minutes, second period we were good, and then we completely fell apart in the third period. That’s just unacceptable, what happened in the third. So, we can talk about first 40, but it’s washed away with that third period.

On what happened in the third period
Yeah, you’ve got to be better, everybody. It’s not just one guy, it’s not one line, it’s not a defense pair, it’s not just the goaie, it’s the whole crew. That’s a game, 2-2 in a visiting team’s building, you got to get out there and be ready for a fight and we were not ready to just grind it and fight it out, clearly.

On the two goals coming in quick succession
It got us on our heels, there’s no question. Then we’re in the penalty box and those two [goals] got us on our heels, yes.

On what the team needed to do, to fight back, but weren’t able to
We needed to get back in the o-zone and play a little bit, just try to build some momentum out of them, but we didn’t, we were back on our heels right away. Obviously they got some life from it and we had no pushback from there, which is probably the most disappointing part of the game.

On the accumulating number of penalties, specifically stick infractions
We went through this the beginning of the year. We took too many penalties. The coach doesn’t have too many options but to take ice time away, that’s basically it. We had got a hold of it pretty good, we’ve had a pretty good run of not giving up a lot of power plays. Tonight, we were careless, but it just goes with our mindset, particularly in the third period.

On the team’s decision to challenge the fourth San Jose goal
It was a tough one, yeah, it was a tough call. I understand why they didn’t overturn it, we knew that it was not a slam dunk, that’s for sure. They got a good look at it, didn’t overturn it. We felt like at that moment in the game that we needed to challenge.

Notes –
• Defenseman Brandt Clarke (1-0=1) scored his third goal of the season, setting a new single-season career-high. With the goal, Clarke extends his point streak against the Sharks to a third game (1-2=3), dating back to Oct. 24, 2024.
• Forward Adrian Kempe (0-2=2) notched his 10th and 11th assists of the campaign to become the second Kings skater
to hit the 20-point mark this season. Kempe has now scored six points (3-3=6) in his last six games against the Sharks, dating back to Dec. 27, 2023. Kempe’s two assists marked his 77th-career multi-point game for the Kings, tying Jari Kurri for the 19th-most multi-point efforts in franchise history.
• Captain Anze Kopitar (1-1=2) picked up his 19th assist of the season and scored his sixth goal of the campaign to reach the 25-point mark for the 19th time in his career. Kopitar becomes the 32nd player in league history to record 19 25-point seasons.
• Kopitar has now tallied 10 points (1-9=10) in his last seven outings, dating back to Nov. 9, 2024. His 28 career goals against the Sharks is tied with Corey Perry and Joe Sakic for the seventh-most in league history, while his 15 career road goals against San Jose breaks a tie with Pavel Bure for sole-possession of the 10th-most in history.
• Kopitar skated in his 699th career road game tonight, the fourth-most among all active skaters behind Ryan Suter (726), Alex Ovechkin (725) and Brent Burns (713).
• Tonight’s contest also marked Kopitar’s 1,395th career regular season appearance, which ties Roman Hamrlik (1,395) for 44th most games played in NHL history.

The Kings have a scheduled day off tomorrow and will return to the ice for a full-team morning skate on Wednesday at 10:30 AM at Toyota Sports Performance Center.