SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – Jeff Carter felt the Kings needed to respond after getting beat up by the Sharks in their season-opener. Los Angeles did just that Thursday night.
Carter scored twice, Jhonas Enroth made 39 saves and the Kings beat San Jose 4-1 for their third straight victory.
“We pretty much got embarrassed that first game at home,” Carter said. “I think it was big for us to come in and prove ourselves. We pretty much had to. This was a big task coming in here. I thought we did a good job.”
Tyler Toffoli and Milan Lucic also scored. The Kings have rebounded for a 3-3-0 start to the season.
“That was the most important thing was the response from the 5-1 loss we had in the opening game,” Lucic said. “Our mindset was in the right place, and I think that was the big reason why we came into one of the toughest buildings in the NHL and got a big win.”
Joel Ward had a goal for the Sharks in their third straight loss. They’ve been outscored 13-4 over their past three games and have one power-play goal in their last 16 chances.
“We definitely had our chances on the power play. It just didn’t find its way in,” Sharks center Joe Pavelski said. “We had our flurries in their end and we sustained pressure. The power play was more than dangerous tonight.”
Enroth improved to 4-0 in five games against San Jose. Former Kings goalie Martin Jones made 25 saves for the Sharks.
“He was really good, the first period especially,” Kings coach Darryl Sutter said of Enroth. “They threw a lot of pucks at us, and I think he did a really, really good job, too, killing penalties, making some big saves.”
Enroth made his first appearance of the season.
“I figured they were going to come out pretty hard and try and shoot from everywhere because I hadn’t played yet, and that’s what they did,” he said. “I was ready for that, and I think we prepared pretty well for this game.”
Lucic scored the Kings’ second power-play goal of the season. Los Angeles entered the game 1 for 21, but scored on its first opportunity to take a 2-0 lead. Carter added another midway through the third period.
Toffoli gave the Kings an early lead after Alec Martinez’s pass led him behind the defenders. He juked Jones once before slipping it in.
Carter made it 3-0 early in the second on a counterattack. Jones faced a 2-on-1 situation and could not stop the shot. San Jose coach Peter DeBoer challenged the call, which was upheld as a goal.
“At that point we knew it was a long shot,” DeBoer said. “It was not a slam dunk.”
Ward put the Sharks on the board late in the second period. Brent Burns’ shot sailed into the glass, and Pavelski gathered it and passed to Ward, who was open in front of the net to score his 99th career goal.
Carter scored three seconds into a power play, firing a shot that bounced off the glass and deflected off Jones’ pad into the net.
NOTES: The Sharks recalled C Bryan Lerg one day after sending him out. He replaced F Joonas Donskoi, who missed his fourth straight game with an injury. … Kings C Jordan Nolan played in his 200th NHL game. … The Kings recalled D Jamie McBain, who scored nine points for the team last year and has appeared in more than 300 games…. C Michael Haley and D Mirco Mueller made their season debut for the Sharks.