SAN JOSE– A furious rally in the third period and overtime earned the San Jose Sharks a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL season finale at sold-out HP Pavilion.
Results from earlier games left the Shark-King match-up to settle the seventh and eighth spots in the Western Conference. Phoenix earned the Pacific Division title, as well as the third seed, with 97 points. San Jose, the four-time defending division champion, settled for 96 points. The Kings, with one point for the overtime loss, earned the eighth spot with 95 points.
San Jose converted one 4-on-4 scoring play and one power play to erase a 2-0 lead by the Kings after two periods. Dan Boyle, who scored the first San Jose goal, completed the scoring with the winner 3:58 into the overtime period.
Vancouver defeated Edmonton 3-0 Saturday night to capture the top seed in the conference. St. Louis, the second seed, will host the Sharks in the first two games of the best 4-of-7 opening series. The NHL will announce the dates and times for all first-round games on Sunday.
Other series will pit Vancouver opposite Los Angeles, Phoenix against Chicago and Nashville playing Detroit.
Los Angeles used a pair of power play goals to enter the second intermission with a 2-0 advantage.
Justin Williams cut into the slot and redirected Jarrett Stoll’s feed past goaltender Antti Niemi at 11:09 of the first period. Marty Havlat had been whistled for slashing at 9:36.
Havlat was in the box for tripping at 18:48 of the second period when the Kings added their final goal. Mike Richards was able to pounce on a long rebound and pull a 10-foot shot past Niemi.
The momentum turned the Sharks’ way early in the third period. Starting play with four skaters aside after a pair of minor penalties at the end of the second, San Jose needed 35 seconds to break through against goaltender Jonathan Quick.
Havlat controlled the puck at the right point before dishing to Boyle at the middle of the blueline. Boyle skated between the circles, waiting for Logan Couture to streak across the low slot before lining a shot inside the right post for his eighth goal of the season.
Coach Todd McLellan pulled Niemi for Thomas Greiss to begin the third period.
Los Angeles had an opportunity to regain the two-goal lead when Williams went to the right post to accept a cross-ice pass at 3:40 of the third. Greiss’ quick move to the post denied Williams his second goal of the night.
Patrick Marleau scored his 30th goal of the night at 8:14 of the third while the Sharks were on a power play. King defenseman Matt Greene boarded Tommy Wingels at 8:01 to give San Jose the extra-man time.
The Sharks needed 13 seconds for the equalizer, Marleau whipping a shot from the high slot that deflected off the stick of King Willie Mitchell before dropping over Quick’s right shoulder and into the net.
Boyle capped the night with a coast-to-coast effort for his ninth goal of the season. Boyle skated with the puck from the San Jose zone into the Los Angeles end before dropping the puck off to Havlat at the left boards. Boyle slipped behind King Dustin Penner, moved to the return pass from Havlat and pulled the shot over Quick’s shoulder to end the game.
Los Angeles finished with a 31-23 edge in shots on net.Â
