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Wednesday, Mar. 29 10:00pm ET
Point helps out both Sharks, Kings | |||||
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BOX SCORE
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Niklas Sundstrom's power-play goal was a rallying point for the San Jose Sharks in more ways than one. The Sharks, clinging to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, have rallied in five of their last seven victories and each of their last three ties -- including Wednesday night's 1-1 draw with the Los Angeles Kings. "It just shows how desperate we've been playing," left wing Tony Granato said. "And we've had to with the hole we've dug ourselves. Sure, it would be nice to be able to take it easy down the stretch and know what spot you're going to be in." The tie, coupled with Vancouver's loss at Detroit, increased San Jose's lead over the Canucks and Anaheim to three points in the race for final seed in the conference. Kelly Buchberger ended a 42-game goal-scoring drought in the final minute of the first period and the Kings survived a breakaway by Vincent Damphousse midway through overtime as they inched closer to clinching a playoff spot. The Kings' margin over Vancouver and Anaheim is nine points with five to play. Los Angeles can clinch a postseason berth with either a victory or a tie on Saturday against the Mighty Ducks at home. The Sharks, just 2-for-30 on the power play in seven games, tied it when Sundstrom scored his 11th goal, converting a rebound at 8:17. Stephane Fiset had stopped Patrick Marleau's 35-foot shot from the slot with Mike Ricci creating traffic in front of the crease. The Sharks nearly stole a victory when Damphousse intercepted a cross-ice pass from Bryan Smolinski to Rob Blake inside the San Jose blue line and took off the other way. His wrist shot whistled wide of the right post. "You don't have much time to think when he's coming down at you like that," Fiset said. "I just told myself to be patient and let him make the first move. And that's what he did. He tried to shoot high on my glove side and missed. So I guess I was covering most of the net." Buchberger gave the Kings a 1-0 lead with 42 seconds left in the first. It was his sixth goal this season and first point in eight games with the Kings. His previous goal was Dec. 23 while with Atlanta, who dealt Buchberger and fellow right wing Nelson Emerson to Los Angeles for Donald Audette and Frantisek Kaberle on March 13. The Kings nearly scored another last-minute goal at the end of the second period. Glen Murray intercepted Magnus Ragnarsson's intended pass to Ricci in the San Jose zone and fed it in the high slot to Jozef Stumpel, whose screened shot from the high slot was smothered by Steve Shields with 19 seconds left. Shields, who made 32 saves, preserved the tie with a brilliant save on Stumpel less than two minutes into the third. After leaving a bad rebound on Craig Johnson's shot from the right circle, Shields dived to his right and barely stopped Stumpel's backhanded attempt with his stick blade. "I got caught a little bit out of position after making the first save, but I was able to get across and just didn't give up on it," Shields said. "I had the opportunity to make some saves that gave us a chance to win, and you don't get that chance every night." | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard San Jose Clubhouse Los Angeles Clubhouse RECAPS Dallas 4 Florida 1
San Jose 1
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