SAN JOSE — The Kings had things under control until they didn’t, then they survived a frantic finish.
Brandt Clarke scored the tiebreaking goal with 6:40 left and the Kings held on to beat the San Jose Sharks, 4-3, on Tuesday night after blowing a three-goal lead in the final stop of their five-game road trip.
Clarke, a defenseman, scored with a wrist shot from the right circle off a rush to give the Kings the lead, then they sweated out the final 76 seconds short-handed.
Clarke and Corey Perry each had a goal and an assist, Jeff Malott and Drew Doughty also scored, Joel Edmundson had two assists, and Darcy Kuemper made 37 saves for the Kings, who extended their point streak to six games (4-0-2), despite getting outshot 40-14.
It was Perry’s third goal in four games.
It was the Kings’ second consecutive victory in regulation after going to overtime in their previous four games.
Alexander Wennberg and Philipp Kurashev each had a goal and an assist, Will Smith also scored, and Yaroslav Askarov made 10 saves for the Sharks, who have lost 10 straight at home (0-8-2) dating to last season. They are the only NHL team without a win in regulation. During a 57-second span in the first period, San Jose missed four clean looks.
Things got dicey for the Kings near the end. They played the final 76 seconds short-handed after Joel Edmundson was whistled for delay of game after flipping the puck over the glass into the crowd.
The Sharks pulled Askarov for the two-man advantage and took six shots during that stretch but failed to score.
Nine seconds after the Sharks killed the first power play of the game, Perry scored to give the Kings a 1-0 lead at 10:54 of the first period.
Clarke took a shot from above the right circle that clipped the stick of San Jose’s Collin Graf, went off the right post, hit the backside of Askarov and was trickling back toward the goal line when Perry pushed it across.
The Kings made it 2-0 at 3:21 of the second when Malott brought the puck into the San Jose zone off a rush and scored over Askarov’s left shoulder from the right circle, assisted by Perry and Edmundson.
Doughty also hit the short side from the same right circle – his first goal of the season – to make it 3-0 at 6:43, but the Sharks answered late in the second period with two goals in a 1:43 span.
Macklin Celebrini made a cross-ice pass to Smith and he scored with a one-timer from just below the left circle to make it 3-1 at 15:33.
Wennberg received a pass from William Eklund while under pressure from Doughty near the right post, but he managed to sweep a wraparound pass to Kurashev cutting through the left circle and he scored from in close to cut it to 3-2 at 17:16.
The Sharks tied the score less than five minutes into the third period, three seconds after the Kings killed a power play, when Wennberg scored on a one-timer from the left circle off a pass from Kurashev.
UP NEXT
The Kings host the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.