Playoffs - Sun, 26 May - Results

Los Angeles v San Jose 1-2 - Game 6 - Going into Game 6 of their Western Conference Semifinal series Sunday night at HP Pavilion against the Los Angeles Kings, the San Jose Sharks liked their chances of winning and forcing a seventh game. After all, the home team in this series had won each of the first five games, and the Sharks had defeated the Kings seven straight times overall at HP, including both games in the series. Then, when Joe Thornton gave San Jose a 1-0 lead barely six minutes into the first period with a 5-on-3 power-play goal, the Sharks' confidence soared. San Jose protected home ice for the third straight time, beating the Kings 2-1 and forcing a Game 7. And for the sixth straight time in this series, the team that scored first won. Game 7 is Tuesday night at Staples Center, where the defending Stanley Cup champions have won 13 straight games, including three straight in the series against the Sharks. The Sharks won a Game 6 when trailing 3-2 for just the second time in 10 tries. The other time came in a quarterfinal series in 1995 when they beat the Calgary Flames 5-3 in Game 6 at home, then won Game 7 5-4 in two overtimes on the road. The Sharks built a 2-0 lead on the strength of Thornton's goal early in the first period and TJ Galiardi's even-strength tally early in the second. But Dustin Brown cut the Sharks' lead to 2-1 with a goal late in the second, and that's where the game stood entering the final period. Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi made 25 saves, while the Kings' Jonathan Quick made 23. The Sharks and Kings each had just 17 shots through two periods, and their defensive battle continued in the third. Niemi stopped a blast from Kings defenseman Slava Voynov with 1:12 left, and the Kings never recorded another shot, even after pulling Quick and gaining an extra attacker. Thornton gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 6:09 of the first period with a two-man advantage. The Kings' Mike Richards went to the penalty box at 4:44 for hooking Sharks defenseman Brent Burns. Anze Kopitar joined Richards 14 seconds later after sending the puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty. Planted below the right faceoff circle, Thornton took a cross-crease pass from Joe Pavelski and beat Quick with a wrist shot with 49 seconds still left on the 5-4 power play. Thornton's goal ended a Sharks scoring drought of 102 minutes and 14 seconds. They hadn't scored since Logan Couture's power-play goal at 3:55 of the second period in Game 4 at HP Pavilion. The Sharks entered the game with a power play that ranked No. 1 in the postseason at home (9-for-24, 37.5 percent), but No. 12 on the road (1-for-19, 5.3 percent). The Kings took three penalties in the first period, and San Jose took advantage score its first goal. The Sharks held the Kings without a goal in the first period despite playing most of the period without defenseman Justin Braun. With just under four minutes gone, Braun needed help off the ice with a lower-back injury he suffered when taking a hit. But he returned to the bench with under a minute left in the period and returned to the ice in the second period. The Kings put plenty of pressure on Niemi in the first period. Drew Doughty, Dwight King and Kopitar each hit iron, but came away empty. Galiardi made it 2-0 just 4:10 into the second period with his first career playoff goal. Scott Hannan chipped a long pass along the right boards that Galiardi gathered near the blue line. He angled toward the faceoff circle and beat Quick, who appeared to be screened, with a wrist shot to his glove side. Hannan earned an assist and Niemi earned his first career playoff assist. The Kings killed off a four-minute high-sticking penalty to Justin Williams, who drew blood from Marc-Edouard Vlasic at 7:28 of the second. Then, with 6:07 left in the period, Brown scored on a sharp-angled shot from right of the crease, slicing the Sharks’ lead to 2-1. Kings defenseman Matt Greene had ripped a long shot from the blue line into heavy traffic, and the puck caromed off bodies to Brown, who scored his third goal of the postseason. The Sharks had a 15-9 edge in blocks and won 21 of 32 faceoffs (66 percent), but the Kings had outhit San Jose 30-17. Sharks forward Adam Burish was in the lineup for the first time since breaking his right hand in Game 4 of the Sharks’ sweep of the Vancouver Canucks in the quarterfinals. He skated at right wing on the fourth line and spent time on the penalty kill. Burish led the Sharks with four shots and went 4-for-4 in the faceoff circle. Kings forward Jordan Nolan returned to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for three straight games and replaced rookie Tyler Toffoli on the fourth line. Entering the game, Quick had a 1.50 goals-against average, a .948 save percentage and three shutouts. He ranked first among playoff goaltenders in all three categories, but the Sharks beat have defeated him three times, all by 2-1 counts. But those three wins came at HP, and the Kings will have home-ice advantage Tuesday.