The San Jose Sharks were forced to try and kill three penalties in the first period against the Los Angeles Kings, but they were only successful once. Ben Eager was called for slashing on Jack Johnson and that set up a Kings power play that was mostly even and balanced until Ryan Smyth screened Antti Niemi perfectly while Johnson slammed one in that the Sharks' goalie didn't even see. The Sharks, to their credit, responded with strong, aggressive play with a couple scoring opportunities from both Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski, but Ryane Clowe throws an elbow and gets two minutes, setting up another power play.
They had the second power play mostly killed, but a rookie mistake from team captain Joe Thornton gave the Kings time to put together another scoring opportunity. When he should have been just clearing the puck away, he took it and circled back, trying to kill time, and that led to a giveaway and soft play sitting on the point for San Jose gave Drew Doughty all the time he needed to sink one in the net to give the Kings a 2-0 lead.
Clowe struck again with just over two minutes left in the period, getting called for another two-minute minor with a cross check on Drew Doughty. This power play, however, was killed by the Sharks. When they weren't in penalty kill mode, the Sharks did look good out there though. The Kings had the edge in aggressiveness and were very active with their sticks. Niclas Wallin and Justin Braun held the zone well, and solid passing throughout allowed San Jose to keep the puck in the Los Angeles zone for a good portion of time, but they're just not getting the shooting and scoring opportunities they need.