Bay Area Roundup

Two bay area teams faced Kings tonight - the LA Kings and King Felix. Below is a round up of both games...

SJ Sharks 6, LA Kings 3
The sharks have jumped out to a commanding 3-1 series lead in the first round of the NHL playoffs. After a scoreless first period, the Sharks got on the board quickly with a Ryane Clowe goal. They went on to score 2 more, making it a 3-0 with 10 minutes left in the second. The Kings called a timeout, regrouped, and came out firing again. They closed the gap to make it 3-2 at the end of the second period. 

Two and a half minutes in to the third period, the Sharks scored again. This was a product of a breakdown in the Kings defense, as Joe Thornton, just subbing in from the bench, sneaked passed the defense and skated untouched to the front of the goal. Patrick Marleau, being double teamed by two defenders, saw wide-open Thornton in front of the net. A quick pass to Thornton, and there was no way he was going to miss an open shot like the one he had. He put it in the back of the net. Just 54 seconds later, Joe Pavelski deflected a pass from Dan Boyle to give the sharks a 5-2 lead. The Sharks went up 6-2 after a nice goal from Torrey Mitchell. The Kings got a goal back late in the third to make it 6-3, but by that point it was too late. 

The Sharks now head back to San Jose in control of the series. Two very good wins in a row has this team rolling. If they can keep this intensity up and get good goal play from Niemi, this Sharks team could go a long way...

Next Game: LA Kings @ SJ Sharks, Saturday the 23rd - 10:30pm EST. San Jose leads the series 3-1.

Seattle Mariners 1, Oakland Athletics 0
In what was a classic pitchers duel, King Felix showed why he was AL Cy Young last year. A's rookie Brandon McCarthy (L, 1-1) looked strong for the third straight outing, but he had one blemish that ruined his night - a solo home run in the 4th inning to Adam Kennedy (2). The A's could only muster 4 hits off of King Felix, who earned the win (W, 2-2). He got into a jam in the 8th inning, when the A's had runners on first and second with two outs. However, the Seattle bullpen bailed him out when Suzuki ground the final out into a fielders choice. 


Next Game: Oakland @ Seattle, Friday the 22nd - 10:10pm EST.