The San Jose Sharks beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 on Sunday night at the HP Pavilion in Game 6 of their Western Conference semifinal.
Joe Thornton and T.J. Galiardi scored for the Shark,s who will now travel to Staples Center for Game 7 on Tuesday evening with a trip to the conference finals on the line.
The home team continued its prowess on the power play, scoring with a two-man advantage 6:09 into the first period. Joe Pavelski found Thornton in the slot and the San Jose captain wristed a shot past Jonathan Quick.
It was exactly the kind of start the Sharks were hoping for and Thornton sung Pavelski’s praises when the puck hit his stick.
“It felt like ages, but Pav just made a beautiful pass,” he said. “Everybody in the building thought he was going to shoot. Great pass. A hole kind of opened up and he kind of put that in.”
Galiardi, who was in the midst of a 19-game scoring drought in the playoffs, doubled San Jose’s advantage 4:10 into the second session when he beat Quick from the top of the faceoff circle.
Galiardi was relieved to score his first post-season goal and revealed that Thornton had predicted he would find the back of the net.
“Jumbo has been telling me the whole time, ‘just be patient, you’re going to score when the boys need it the most,’” he said. “He was a bit of a fortune teller tonight.”
Dustin Brown scored for the Kings at the 13:53 mark of the second period when his shot from a bad angle beat goalkeeper Antii Niemi, who was otherwise stellar on the evening.
The goal set up a frantic final 20 minutes, but Niemi stood tall between the pipes, especially in the final minute when the visitors pulled their goalie.
San Jose will now travel to Staples Center to face the Los Angeles Kings, who have not lost at home during the playoffs this year.