SAN JOSE, Calif. -- It is a power play that would make the '80s Edmonton Oilers proud, the manner in which they whip that puck around and produce a zillion scoring chances.
And on Wednesday night, it is the reason the San Jose Sharks won what could prove to be a pivotal Game 4, three power-play goals leading to a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings and a 3-1 series lead over their bitter California rivals.
"The group felt last game that we could have won the game had we cashed in on the power play," Sharks head coach Peter DeBoer said. "We liked a lot of what we did [in Game 3], but we didn't stick one in the net. I think they came out tonight to make sure that if we got opportunities they would put them in and they did. That's the kind of group we have. They come to work the day after a loss. They look at what we can fix and get it fixed. That was the difference tonight.''
It is an absolute monster unit, that of Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski, Patrick Marleau, Logan Couture and Brent Burns. There's so much movement, so many open lanes, a natural, second-nature rhythm to what these five players do that makes it look seamless like a performance from Russia's legendary Bolshoi Ballet.
"We have the confidence that we feel on our power play, I think it has something to do with us being together for so long," said Couture, who assisted on Marleau's winning goal.
The options abound: Burns at the point for a blast, or Pavelski in the slot for a one-timer, or Marleau at the side of the net waiting for a rebound or a pass; with Thornton directing all of it like the head of an orchestra, his pinpoint passing nearly impossible to stop. Case in point on this night, his setup from behind the Kings' net to Pavelski in front for the 2-0 lead.
"It's been good, moving it around, getting shots and getting pucks back; when we're doing that we're pretty dangerous,'' Marleau said.
The Kings were able to survive the Sharks' power-play threats in Game 3 in large part because of blocking so many shots. They blocked 10 shots from Burns alone in Game 3, part of 27 blocked shots overall.
That total was down to 18 in Game 4 on Wednesday night, and Burns made sure his one-timer to open the scoring 2:09 into the second period would go untouched. What a blast.
And it came on a beautiful cross-ice feed from Joel Ward, a member of San Jose's second power-play unit, which isn't too shabby, either.
The painful lesson for the Kings is one which they already knew: They must stay disciplined if they have any chance of mounting a comeback in this series. They cannot take bad penalties. Jeff Carter's roughing penalty on Marc-Edouard Vlasic 30 seconds into the second period was unlike the veteran Kings center, and the cost was San Jose's opening goal.
Rob Scuderi's tripping penalty that led to the Sharks' second power-play goal came as a result of Thornton's top line buzzing all over the Kings zone and forcing an infraction.
The Kings' thinned out blue-line corps was on its heels for much of the opening two periods, bottled up for stretches and limiting L.A.'s ability to transition out of its zone.
Finally the Kings came to life once they were down 3-0 with third-period goals from Trevor Lewis and Luke Schenn, L.A. finding a way to create the kind of traffic around Sharks goalie Martin Jones that had been completely nonexistent in the first two periods.
The Kings' rally in the third period, while falling short, reminded everyone that while the Sharks look like a good bet to win this series now up 3-1, Los Angeles is going to be a mighty tough out because the 2012 and 2014 Cup champs won't stop coming.
"They don't quit, they don't quit," Couture said. "We respect that about them. No matter the score, they're going to continue to push. That has something to do with their coaching staff all the way down to the last player on their team. They've won championships for a reason.''