Sharks break through against Kings

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Logan Couture spent most of the second period in the locker room with an injury. But he made it back in time to save the San Jose Sharks' season.

Couture's first career overtime playoff goal - on a power play at 1:29 of sudden death -- gave the San Jose Sharks a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings in Game 3 on Saturday night at HP Pavilion.

The victory cut the Kings' lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal to 2-1. Game 4 is set for Tuesday night.

"Guys get banged up in the playoffs," Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle said. "He's our guy, I've said it before. He came back and did what he could. That shot in overtime. That's a hell of a shot. He comes back and scores a huge goal for us."

The goal capped a desperate game for San Jose, which thought it had outplayed its state rival to date without getting due reward.

"We've been in the series, coming back home it didn't feel like 2-0," Sharks forward Joe Pavelski said. "We've invested a lot so far. We knew we had to win, but guys played hard and we found our way on the plus side."

The teams played a high-energy third period that was scoreless, but the Kings committed two late-regulation penalties that set up a five-on-three power play for the Sharks.

"Both teams were having trouble scoring five-on-five," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. "It boiled down to power plays. That's how both teams have won the last two games."

First, Los Angeles defenseman Robyn Regehr hooked Tommy Wingels at 19:18 as the San Jose forward was cutting in front of the net with the puck. Then, Kings penalty-killing forward Trevor Lewis went off at 19:55 for goaltender interference when Los Angeles bungled a two-on-one short-handed break.

"It's an unfortunate break," Kings forward Dustin Penner said. "It's always tough to kill a five-on-three, especially in overtime against a team that's already down two-nothing at home. I don't think we agree with how it went down. Sometimes the refs miss calls."

The Sharks didn't convert the two-man advantage but were patient to stick with it and get the job done five-on-four.

"I think we just rushed through the first little bit," Sharks captain Joe Thornton said. "The ice was kind of sticky, too. We just calmed it down eventually."

The Sharks got hit by the injury bug early and often in the second period.

Defenseman Scott Hannan spun and hit his head on the end boards after diving in anticipation of a shot late on a Kings power play that carried over from the first period. Hannan missed several shifts before returning mid-period.

Martin Havlat, appearing for the first time since getting injured in Game 1 of San Jose's sweep of Vancouver, didn't return for the second period after skating six shifts and 4:52 of the opening period.

And Couture hobbled off at 4:20 but returned to skate the final 27 seconds of the period. San Jose was already playing without regulars Raffi Torres (suspension) and Adam Burish (hand).

"It's normal playoff hockey, bandage guys up, ice bags and kick 'em back on the ice," Thornton said.

Sharks coach Todd McLellan said, "I thought everyone elevated their game. I thought our game management at that point was as good as it's been all year as far as shift length, puck management, getting fresh people on the ice. We talked about it, why change it now because Logan is back? Let's keep doing that."

The Sharks killed both Los Angeles power plays in the second period -- surrendering three shots total. And the hosts put on a big push in the final 10 minutes that went unrewarded. Kings goalie Jonathan Quick made a great right pad save on a point-blank shot by Andrew Desjardins at 14:48.

The Sharks converted an early power play but went into the first intermission knotted 1-1 after a giveaway at mid-period led to the tying goal.

San Jose needed only four seconds to convert its first power play of the series after seven failures during the first two games in L.A. Boyle's one-timer from the blue line slipped through a Thornton screen after Pavelski won a faceoff to Patrick Marleau and the Sharks led 1-0 for the first time in three games at 1:34.

But Brad Stuart's intended pass to defense partner Hannan was picked off by Kings forward Tyler Toffoli, whose backhand shot at 10:08 eluded Sharks goalie Antti Niemi to tie it.

"We got half of the answer now, we've got to come back and do it again," Boyle said. "We feel like we've been the better team in the series so far, but that doesn't win you games. You've got to win on the scoreboard and tonight we did both -- were the better team and came out on top."

NOTES: The league fined the Sharks $100,000 for public comments by GM Doug Wilson regarding the recent suspension of Torres. They were assessed a $25,000 fine for making statements to the media during the 48-hour period following a disciplinary decision and an additional $75,000 due to the inappropriate nature of the comments. Torres was suspended for the remainder of the series on Thursday for a hit that injured Kings center Jarret Stoll in Game 1. ... Havlat returned to the Sharks' lineup for the first time since he was injured against Vancouver during the opener of a four-game sweep of the Canucks. Havlat played left wing on a third line centered by Scott Gomez and flanked on the right by Tommy Wingels. ... Two changes for the Kings after Game 2: Keaton Ellerby replaced Alec Martinez on the blue line and winger Tanner Pearson was in for Jordan Nolan on the fourth line. ... The Sharks are 0 of 9 all time when dropping the first two games of a playoff series.