Kings pushed to brink by Sharks' power play in Game 4 loss

SAN JOSE >> The Kings gave up a power-play goal during Game 4 of their first-round playoff series Wednesday against the San Jose Sharks at the SAP Center.

Then they gave up another. Then another.

The Kings lost the special teams battle and, as a result, lost the game to the Sharks, who pushed them to the brink of elimination with a 3-2 victory in front of a roaring, chanting sellout crowd of 17,562.

Beat L.A.? The Kings did it to themselves in Game 4.

Now the Sharks can eliminate the Kings with a victory in Game 5 on Friday at Staples Center, where they won the first two games of the series last week and both regular-season contests. Game 6, if necessary, would be played Sunday in San Jose.

Two years ago, San Jose had four chances to send the Kings on vacation during their first-round series, but couldn’t get it done. The Kings became only the fourth team to rally from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-7 series, using that victory as a springboard to the 2014 Stanley Cup championship.

The Kings aren’t the same team as in ‘14, however.

Neither are the Sharks.

That was evident when San Jose took the first two games of the series on the Kings’ ice.

After an evenly-played first period Wednesday, the Sharks seized control with power-play goals from Brent Bus and Joe Pavelski and took a 2-0 lead into the third period. The Sharks nearly added a third power-play goal late in the second, but couldn’t push a back-breaker past Jonathan Quick.

The Sharks needed only six seconds of power-play time in the opening minutes of the third to get it, however. Patrick Marleau converted at 1:40 to make it 3-0 after Kings defenseman Jamie McBain was penalized for high-sticking Joonas Donskoi.

Given that each of the first three games had been decided by one goal, including the Kings’ 2-1 overtime victory Monday in Game 3, the Sharks’ three-goal lead might have seemed like a 300-goal advantage. The Sharks’ big lead didn’t last long, however.

Kings center Trevor Lewis deflected defenseman Luke Sche’s perimeter shot past Martin Jones to make it 3-1 at 2:49 and Sche cut it to 3-2 with one from the left point at 6:44. Jones couldn’t see around Lewis, who screened Jones on the first one, and Dwight King blocked his view on the second.

San Jose coach Peter DeBoer challenged the first goal, contending that Lewis interfered with Jones on the play. The call on the ice was upheld, however, and the Kings suddenly had momentum. Sche’s goal then tued up the pressure on the Sharks.

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