San Jose, CA

Antti Niemi recorded 25 saves as the San Jose Sharks forced a winner-take-all Game 7 showdown with a 2-1 victory over defending champion Los Angeles Kings in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinal at HP Pavilion.

Game 7 is Tuesday night at Staples Center, where the Kings have won 13 straight games, including three straight in the series against San Jose.

The winner of this series will face the victor in the Chicago Blackhawks-Detroit Red Wings showdown. The Red Wings hold a 3-2 lead in the series.

The Sharks won a Game 6 when trailing 3-2 for just the second time in 10 tries. The other time came in a quarterfinal series in 1995 when they beat the Calgary Flames, 5-3, in Game 6 at home, then won Game 7, 5-4, in two overtimes on the road.

Joe Thornton scored a power-play goal in the first and TJ Galiardi added a goal in the second for the Sharks.

Jonathan Quick stopped 24 shots for the Kings. He entered the game with 1.50 goals-against average, a .948 save percentage and three shutouts but the Sharks have defeated him three times, all by 2-1 counts.

Dustin Brown scored his third goal of the playoff for the Kings, who went 0-for-2 in power-play opportunities.

Thornton gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 6:09 of the first period on a power-play goal after the Kings' Mike Richards went to the penalty box at 4:44 for hooking and Anze Kopitar followed 14 seconds for a delay of game penalty.

Planted below the right faceoff circle, Thornton took a cross-crease pass from Joe Pavelski and beat Quick with a wrist shot with 49 seconds still left on the 5-4 power play.

Thornton's goal ended a Sharks scoring drought of 102 minutes and 14 seconds. They hadn't scored since Logan Couture's power-play goal at 3:55 of the second period in Game 4 at HP Pavilion.

Galiardi made it 2-0 just 4:10 into the second period with his first goal of the playoffs. Scott Hannan chipped a long pass along the right boards to Galiardi, who beat Quick with a wrist shot to his glove side.

Brown cut the Sharks' lead to 2-1 with a sharp-angled shot from right of the crease for his third goal of the postseason.

 

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Antti Niemi Tallies 25 saves as Sharks Force Game 7