Clarke scores in 3rd, Kings hold off comeback from Sharks

SAN JOSE -- Brandt Clarke scored the game-winning goal in the third period, and the Los Angeles Kings held off a comeback by the San Jose Sharks to win 4-3 at SAP Center on Tuesday.

Clarke walked freely down the right wing, and his wrist shot beat Yaroslav Askarov over the glove at 13:20.

"The D-man was closing so I knew I had to get a shot off and [I hit] my spot," Clarke said.

Clarke also had an assist for the Kings (5-3-3), who have won four of their past five games and extended their point streak to six games (4-0-2). Corey Perry had a goal and an assist, and Jeff Malott and Drew Doughty also scored. Darcy Kuemper made 37 saves.

"There's no question we didn't deserve those two points, but there have been times this season we have, and we've been on the short end of a goaltending performance ourselves, but we'll take it," Kings coach Jim Hiller said.

Philipp Kurashev and Alexander Wennberg each had a goal and an assist for the Sharks (2-6-2), who tied the game in the third period after trailing 3-0. Will Smith also scored for San Jose, and Askarov made ten saves.

"The result stinks, but I thought we played really hard, did some really good things for our most complete game of the year," Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said.

Perry put the Kings in front 1-0 at 10:54 of the first period. Clarke's shot from the top of the right circle tipped off Collin Graf's stick and got behind Askarov. Perry stuffed the loose puck in at the goal line.

Malott pushed the lead to 2-0 at 3:21 of the second period. On a 2-on-1, Mallot walked down the right wing and opted to shoot and beat Askarov on the short side over the blocker.

Doughty scored to make it 3-0 at 6:43 with a wrist shot from the right circle, going short side into the top corner. The goal tied Doughty with Rob Blake for the most goals in franchise history by a defenseman (161).

"I looked up to Blake as a kid. He's one of my favorite (defensemen), and it is cool to be with him there," Doughty said.

Smith scored to make it 3-1 at 15:33 after Macklin Celebrini sent a perfect cross-crease pass to Smith for a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle.

Kurashev cut it to 3-2 at 17:16. William Eklund found Wennberg at the right post, and his spinning pass went to Kurashev at the left post for the easy one-timer.

"On the goal, great play by Eklund and Wennberg there, and just had to tap it in. It was a nice play," Kurashev said.

Wennberg tied the game 3-3 at 4:48 of the third period. Kurashev stepped from the left post out in front and found a wide-open Wennberg at the left circle for the wrist shot.

NOTES: Celebrini's assist gave him a five-game point streak (11 points; five goals, six assists). He has six assists in his past four games. ... San Jose forward Tyler Toffoli played in his 900th NHL game. ... The Kings are 5-1-2 on the road.