LOS ANGELES — Logan Couture had two goals and an assist, Ryan Carpenter scored his first NHL goal and the San Jose Sharks extended their recent mastery over the Los Angeles Kings with a 4-1 victory Wednesday night.
Kevin Labanc also scored and Martin Jones made 26 saves against his former team in the Pacific Division-leading Sharks’ fifth win in six games. Couture and Carpenter scored 30 seconds apart in the final minute of the first period, and Los Angeles couldn’t recover from that defensive lapse.
Dustin Brown scored for the Kings, whose five-game winning streak ended with another frustrating night against their upstate rivals.
The Sharks won at Staples Center for the sixth consecutive time, including three playoff victories last spring. San Jose ousted the Kings in the first round on the way to the Stanley Cup Final, and the Sharks’ control over their oldest rival has continued this fall with two regular season victories.
Peter Budaj stopped 20 shots in Los Angeles’ first home loss in seven games since Nov. 1.
Couture, who sharply criticized the Kings and Norris Trophy-winning defenceman Drew Doughty last year after their playoff series ended, added an empty-net goal. He has only two multipoint games this year — and both were against the Kings.
After Labanc converted Couture’s pass on a 2-on-1 break to open the scoring, Couture got his team-leading eighth goal in the final minute of the Sharks’ three-goal first period.
Carpenter, an AHL All-Star last season while leading San Jose’s top affiliate in scoring, found the net in his fourth NHL game over two seasons — although Budaj probably should have stopped the shot between his legs.
Joel Ward had two assists in the sequence for the Sharks.
Brown finally got the Kings on the board early in the second period, roofing a rebound of Marian Gaborik’s shot during a power play for his fourth goal.
NOTES: Gaborik played his second game of the season and got his first regular season point since Feb. 12. He missed Los Angeles’ first 21 games with a broken foot. … San Jose beat Los Angeles 2-1 on opening night at the Shark Tank. … Los Angeles had the previous three days off. D Matt Greene returned to the lineup and Tom Gilbert was scratched.
UP NEXT
Sharks: Host Canadiens on Friday night.
Kings: At Coyotes on Thursday night.
