Postgame Notes #31: Jones’s Save % Above .900, Sharks Win 4-2

Period 1

2 minutes in, looks like Vlasic got away with one. Anderson-Dolan chipped it past him, Vlasic hipchecked him after the fact. Collective “Hey!!!” from Kings bench.

3 minutes in: Karlsson curses himself out. He’s tightroping on the blueline, made an aggressive Grundstrom miss a couple times, but then he loses it, it goes out. Too bad, Hertl and Marleau were massed in front.

Donato draws a penalty; he’s excelled in that department this year.

Kane-Hertl-Couture-Labanc-Burns is #SJSharks PP1, followed by Donato-Marleau-Meier-Ferraro-Karlsson

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 25, 2021

8 minutes left: Sorensen gets pickpocketed skating it out by Athanasiou. After a rough game on Monday, he’s not off to a good start tonight.

Good alertness by Gambrell to jump on that loose puck; he's been one of the few very engaged Sharks so far tonight

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 25, 2021

Gambrell draws a penalty there, beating a lulled Vilardi to puck.

5 minutes left: Hard-charging Marleau roars up ice…and bobbles puck, then falls on entry. Not pretty, except for a couple moments of high-octane skating. Someone else, like Sorensen, not doing much with his showcase.

Persistent penalty killing by Lizotte: Follows and is beaten up the ice by Karlsson. Karlsson enters, scans and scans slowly…and turns it over on a pass back to point to Lizotte.

1 minute left, third line skating up, Sorensen wants Balcers, tries to toss a diagonal pass – clank – intercepted. Right idea, but gotta execute, that feeds the counterattack.

Seconds left, what a pass by Burns! Kane misses net, looks to the sky.

What a pass by Burns! pic.twitter.com/ZekfL8RwVJ

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 25, 2021

LAK 13-6 shot counter looks ugly, but truth is, nothing too scary from Kings. They have 1-0 High-Danger edge at 5-on-5. San Jose Sharks probably have better chances if fewer? Meier hit a post on the power play and Kane completely missed the net on a Grade-A chance, better set-up from Burns.

Period 2

2 minutes in: Gorgeous area pass from Meier to Gambrell, looks like Balcers has a dangerous tip from it.

Was just going to say, Balcers has good pop tonight. Nice pass from Sorensen on 2-on-1 for the goal. Balcers beats forechecking Anderson-Dolan around net, I think Grundstrom was supposed to support by coming back by being third man high? But Grundstrom trips. Case by case in-game basis, I can see argument for moving Marleau up, but right now, Balcers should be in his place on both the second line and the power play.

6 minutes in: Burns known for his hard passes, but he pops a feathery pass to Couture in NZ there.

7 minutes in: Simek covers for Vlasic, who lost it in NZ and doubled down by chasing puck. Could’ve been an outnumbered there.

8 minutes in: Marleau skates through the Kings, gets a shot off from distance. He’s still got wheels, but maybe he could’ve forced issue more there in his younger days.

9 minutes in, like a couple exchanges between Simek and Vlasic. Good chemistry, helping each other out. Then Ferraro erases Kopitar in corner on following shift.

9 minutes left, impressive patience by Gambrell to wait on trailer Knyzhov. Following shift, Leonard banks it off wall after Karlsson pass, resembling drills he’s been doing with Ricci.

7 minutes left, Jones stones Iafallo again. Then, another San Jose odd-man rush –helped out by Ferraro tying up Iafallo in corner, then Couture chipping puck past tired Brown – this time, Kane doesn’t miss on the Burns pass.

6 minutes left, Vlasic can’t tie up Carter’s stick, another bang-bang chance for LA, but Jones again! It’s been a track meet this period, but Jones has been the difference.

Knyzhov hasn’t played since 7 minutes left in period, he was on the bench.

Looks like Burns a little slow to get over on Iafallo. That’s a bad goal and scoring chance to give up by the San Jose Sharks with just seconds left in the middle frame, chance to go into room up 2-0.

Period 3

Did Marleau get a touch on Hertl goal? MacDermid steps up on Marleau as pass arrives, puck continues to travel forward, ending up being a nice, unintentional area pass from Vlasic, the current primary now.

Kempe goal: Terrific individual effort by Doughty, not sure what Karlsson is doing there? Did he leave Kempe to play the pass? The pass gets through, regardless.

7 minutes in, race to area pass, Marleau vs. MacDermid. The big d-man gets a stick first. Not trying to be hard on the San Jose Sharks legend, just trying to watch closely.

8 minutes in: What a low-to-high pass from Balcers to Karlsson, then Karlsson does nifty stickwork to keep it in. Results in Balcers chance.

Another 40-plus save night for Jones. Had 41-of-42 on Monday, 40-of-42 with 5 minutes left

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 25, 2021

4 minutes left: Couture does good job to get away from Doughty, gets pass to slot, then Ferraro steps on Kopitar, ties him up.

If just high sticking on Couture, that could be best-case scenario. Looked worst at first. High stick then maybe awkward fall?

MARTIN JONES'S SAVE % IS ABOVE .900 (.902)

— Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) March 25, 2021