Thornton, Marleau lift Sharks over Kings in OT

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Game Information

Arena: STAPLES Center Location: Los Angeles, California

Referees: MichaelMcGeough, BradMeier Linesmen: DonHenderson, VaughanRody

Attendance: 18,118 (97.9% full)

Team Stat Comparison
265	Goals	243
235	Goals Against	269
91	Power Play Goals	77
77	Power Play Goals Allowed	104
10	Shorthanded Goals	15
11	Shorthanded Goals Allowed	12
1058	Penalty Minutes	1474
13	Average Penalty Minutes	18

Scoring Summary
1ST PERIOD			SAN	LOS
2:48		Jeff Cowan Assists: Luc Robitaille	0	1
3:17		George Parros Assists: Joe Corvo, Matt Ryan	0	2
9:42		Grant Stevenson (Power Play) Assists: Patrick Marleau, Tom Preissing	1	2
18:38		Jonathan Cheechoo (Power Play) Assists: Mark Smith, Scott Hannan	2	2
2ND PERIOD			SAN	LOS
No scoring this period			2	2
3RD PERIOD			SAN	LOS
12:25		Joe Corvo (Power Play) Assists: Nathan Dempsey, Dustin Brown	2	3
19:31		Joe Thornton Assists: Grant Stevenson, Patrick Marleau	3	3
OT			SAN	LOS
4:51		Patrick Marleau (Power Play) Assists: Joe Thornton, Grant Stevenson	4	3

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton made the most of every second to lift the San Jose Sharks to victory.

Marleau's power-play goal with 8.9 seconds left in overtime gave the Sharks a 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. That came soon after Thornton's late goal forced the extra session.

With Kings forward Dustin Brown in the penalty box, Marleau took a feed from Thornton in the slot and fired the puck over the right shoulder of goalie Mathieu Garon to give San Jose its third victory in four games against Los Angeles this season.

"I tried to stick with it, I had three chances before I finally hit the back of the net," said Marleau, who smacked the post with a shot earlier in the power play.

The Sharks tied it on Thornton's goal with only 29 seconds remaining in regulation. Joe Corvo gave Los Angeles a 3-2 lead with 7:35 left.

"Down 2-0 early, we fought our way back, down 3-2 with a minute to go we came back," said Thornton, who extended a point streak to five games. "This is a good character team here and we love to play together."

The Sharks also won 5-4 at Los Angeles on Oct. 28 when Jonathan Cheechoo scored with just 3.7 seconds left in third period.

San Jose's offense was powered this time by a 3-for-8 effort on the power play.

"We gave up three power-play goals, you can't have that many penalties against a team with such a good power play," Garon said.

San Jose's Evgeni Nabokov had to make just 15 saves to improve to 12-12-5.

"Our team worked hard, we are thoroughly disappointed we didn't get the two points that was there for us," Kings coach Andy Murray said. "That's two games here at home that we've lost the game in the last seconds to the Sharks."

Jeff Cowan and George Parros scored 29 seconds apart in the opening 3:17 to give the Kings a 2-0 advantage.

Luc Robitaille feathered a pass from the left boards through the legs of Sharks defenseman Doug Murray to Cowan in the slot for a tap-in goal just 2:48 in.

Parros put in a rebound of Corvo's shot, with rookie center Matt Ryan also assisting, for his first NHL point.

The Sharks tied it with a pair of power-play goals. Grant Stevenson deflected Marleau's shot past Garon to get San Jose on the scoreboard at 9:42 of the first.

Stevenson, a rookie who was brought up from the Sharks' top minor league affiliate in Cleveland on Nov. 23, also assisted on Marleau's winner and Thornton's tying goal.

"He's played really good since he's been up, he always trying to contribute every night," Marleau said.

Cheechoo made it 2-2 off a goal-mouth feed from Mark Smith with 2:22 left in the opening period. He has an 11-game point streak (10 goals, 8 assists) and has scored 19 goals in 21 games since Thornton was acquired from Boston on Nov. 30.

Brown earned an assist on Corvo's goal. The second-year NHL player has a five-game point streak with three goals and three assists.

Game notes
The Kings honored the team's longtime radio and television announcer Nick Nickson before the game. Nickson has called Kings games for 25 years, the last 14 on radio. He was presented a Rolex watch and a team jersey with the number 25. ... Kings LW Alexander Frolov missed a third straight game with the flu. ... Nabokov made his first appearance since surrendering six goals at Montreal on Jan. 14. He missed one game with a groin injury and backed up Vesa Toskala on Thursday.