Tanner Pearson scores in OT, Kings defeat Sharks

SAN JOSE -- Tanner Pearson scored 58 seconds into overtime to give the Los Angeles Kings a 2-1 victory against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Tuesday.
After a turnover by Sharks rookie forward Kevin Labanc in the Kings zone, Pearson took a pass from Jeff Carter on a 2-on-1 rush and beat goalie Martin Jones with a shot from the left faceoff circle for his 10th goal.
"I just kind of hung out by the blue line until Carter crossed the blue line and went down on a 2-on-1 and finished it off," Pearson said.

WATCH: All Kings vs. Sharks highlights
Carter scored on the power play to tie the game 1-1 at 3:03 of the third period, and Peter Budaj made 26 saves for the Kings (19-15-4), who swept a home-and-home from the Sharks.
"We know what we're getting into when we play them," Carter said. "We have some ground to make up on them and a lot of teams in our division. We really keyed on these games and good to get four [points]."
Logan Couture scored in the second period for San Jose (23-13-2), and Jones made 33 saves.
"I thought we created a lot in the third," Couture said. "We're just not finishing right now, and really all season. We gave up a chance in overtime, and they buried it. It is disappointing. We had a great opportunity. We didn't bring our best game. Give them credit, they played well. They took it to us at the start of both of these games."
The Sharks took a 1-0 lead on Couture's goal at 11:56 of the second period. Couture took a pass from Labanc on a rush and beat Budaj with a wrist shot from the left faceoff dot.

It was Couture's 12th goal of the season, fourth in four games against the Kings.
Los Angeles appeared to pull even at 14:53 of the second period when Marian Gaborik put a rebound past Jones from close range. The goal was overturned after video review showed Gaborik batted the puck with his hand.
Kings center Anze Kopitar had a shorthanded breakaway late in the second period, but Jones made a glove save with 17 seconds left.
Carter has seven goals and two assists in the past seven games.
"He's on fire, and we need it obviously," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. "He's really put a charge in the team."

Goal of the game

The Kings were trailing 1-0 when Carter established position in the low slot and redirected a pass from defenseman Jake Muzzin past Jones. With 21 goals, Carter is second in the NHL behind Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins (26). "Just getting lucky," he said.

Save of the game

Sharks forward Joonas Donskoi received a pass from defenseman Paul Martin in the low slot and took a backhand from close range at 3:17 of the second period. The puck rolled up Budaj's right arm before he hit it out of the air with his stick into the corner.

Unsung performance of the game

Sharks rookie forward Timo Meier didn't get on the score sheet, but he earned a promotion from the third line to the top line with Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski in the third period because of his overall strong play and effort. Meier had a game-high seven hits and two shots on goal in 13:59 of ice time.

Highlight of the game

Pearson and Carter teamed up on a 2-on-1 rush in overtime with only defenseman Justin Braun back to help Jones. Pearson took a pass from Carter from the right faceoff circle and shot past Jones just inside the left post from the left circle.

They said it

"We got better as the game went on. We found a way to get a point. We wanted two. I don't know if we deserved two or not. But it's that time of year. When you take out the guys we have out of the lineup, and everyone's dealing with injuries, but it changes your team. But you've got to find a way. You scratch and claw and it's not going to look great every night, and that's the reality of it." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer on missing injured defensemen Marc-Edouard Vlasic and David Schlemko
"That's big. We've been talking about these two games ever since we got out of Edmonton. We were looking forward to the challenge. We obviously love playing against these guys. It's a great rivalry, and it was good to beat them both times." -- Kings defenseman Drew Doughty on sweeping the home-and-home

Need to know

The Kings are 7-1 in overtime, and the Sharks are 4-2. … Los Angeles defenseman Brayden McNabb played his 200th NHL game. ... Kings forward Tyler Toffoli (lower body) missed his sixth straight game. ... Sharks defenseman Mirco Mueller, who was called up Monday from the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League, played his first NHL game of the season, 51st of his career.

What's next

Kings: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; SN, FS-W, FS-D, NHL.TV)
Sharks:Host the Minnesota Wild on Thursday (10:30 p.m. ET; CSN-CA, FS-N, FS-WI, NHL.TV)