I have covered all four of the playoff series that have happened between the Sharks and Kings. Never, never, never boring
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) April 23, 2016
Sharks scored three straight, missed on a penalty shot, then gave up three straight, leaving the game tied after 40 minutes. But the Sharks came back with two more, plus an empty net, to push past the Kings and advance to the next round.
Donskoi, Tierney and Karlsson all scored their first career NHL playoff goals. Nice to have secondary scoring help out in series.
Relief of finally getting past the Kings? Definitely. Revenge for that 0-4 losing streak in 2014? Kinda, but what about the 2013 series loss? All time, the Sharks and Kings are 2-2 in the playoffs. This is the first time the series has been decided in less than seven games.
Sharks were clearly the better team in this series.
Perhaps my favorite stat of the series: The Kings had a lead in the series for a total of 4:02 (and that was only because they scored the first goal in game 1).
Thank you, Los Angeles Kings, for a good series.
The Sharks now wait for their next opponent, either the Anaheim Ducks or Nashville Predators.
Postgame news links
- Sportsnet: Coach’s corner – Thornton is a playoff guy
- Sportsnet: Kings dethroned
- AP recap
- NBC recap
- ESPN: Rapid Reaction
- ESPN: Recap (the handshake line)
- CBS recap
- SJMN: Sharks don’t believe officiating is reason to complain
- SJMN: recap
- SJMN Purdy: Sharks exorcise demons
- Gackle: Sharks get redemption
- Puck Daddy recap
- Puck Daddy SOTN: #2 (tied) Donskoi
- Puck Daddy: disrespectful Kings
- Puck Daddy: Kings players ponder future
- AFP recap
- Reuters recap
- LBPT Whicker: Kings eliminated by much-different Sharks team
- LBPT recap
- LBPT Whicker: Kings had momentum, but not enough firepower
- LAKI: balance between emotional and disciplined play
- LAT recap
- Kings recap
- LAT: 3 keys to loss
- LAT Elliott: Kings not quite good enough
- LAT: what we learned from loss