Kings Can’t Close the Door

The two points were sitting there for the Kings, just as plainly as those two San Jose players standing in front of the net with time running out in regulation.

What followed was a series of unfortunate events that gave the Sharks a 4-3 overtime victory at Staples Center on Saturday.

Joe Thornton tied the score with 29 seconds left, forcing overtime, and Patrick Marleau ended the overtime, flipping in a power-play goal with nine seconds left. And the Kings were left trying to explain their fifth loss in the last seven games.

“When you have two points, you hate to give them up like that,” center Derek Armstrong said.

Through 59 minutes, the post-game seemed unlikely to be a post-mortem.

Then defenseman Joe Corvo decided to push forward, leaving the Sharks’ Grant Stevenson and Thornton close enough to whisper sweet nothings to goaltender Mathieu Garon. Stevenson got the puck, deked Garon and slipped a pass to Thornton for the tap-in that tied the score.

“Don’t try to blame this one on me,” Corvo said. “There was a whole line out there besides myself.”

In the end, the loss did seem to take a village.

Dustin Brown took a hooking penalty with 2:01 left in overtime.

Coach Andy Murray called a timeout with 1:11 left to rest his top penalty-killing unit, giving the Sharks’ top players a rest as well.

“They were the best penalty killers available to us,” Murray said. “We needed them out there.”

They weren’t out there long.

Defenseman Mike Weaver shanked a clearing try and Marleau, who had just been denied on a point-blank shot, was left with the game on his stick. His nonchalant-looking shot sailed over Garon’s shoulder to give the Sharks three victories in four games against the Kings this season.

“Nine out of 10 times, that puck is out [of the zone],” Weaver said.

That erased a scrappy effort by the Kings, who scored on two of their first three shots, then blew a 2-0 lead when Stevenson and Jonathan Cheechoo scored power play goals before the period ended.

Still, the Kings had the two points in escrow when Corvo patiently lined up a one-timer from the blue line for a power play goal to break a 2-2 tie 12:25 into the third period.

“No one came out on me, so I shot the puck,” said Corvo, who has a career-high 10 goals. “I unloaded on it.”

Corvo seemed less enthused talking about the final seconds. He flipped the puck out of the zone toward the Sharks’ empty net for an icing call with 39 seconds left. The Kings won the face off, but Marleau intercepted a clearing try and spotted Stevenson and Thornton unattended on the edge of the crease.

“I haven’t seen the tape yet, but you always want to be focusing on the defensive side,” Murray said. “If that’s what he did, that’s not what we want. But I haven’t seen the tape.”

The screening may not be pleasant, but Murray was ready with a sight-unseen review.

“We need to move forward,” Murray said. “There are a lot of teams that would love to have the 61 points we have.”