Kings Can't Hold Lead After Strong Start

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Joe Pavelski scored the tying and go-ahead goals 92 seconds apart in the third period, defenseman Brent Burns had two goals and an assist, and the San Jose Sharks beat the Los Angeles Kings, 5-3, on Tuesday night.

Joe Thornton added a goal and two assists, and Martin Jones made 33 saves against his former team to help the second-place Sharks reduce the Kings' lead in the Pacific Division to eight points. San Jose leads the NHL with 13 road wins (13-6-2).

Tyler Toffoli had two goals for the Kings, both set up by Tanner Pearson, and Trevor Lewis also scored. Jonathan Quick stopped 17 shots after making 45 saves at Montreal in his previous outing, a 3-0 victory.

The Kings made it 3-1 at 17:48 of the second period. Toffoli made Burns cough up the puck in the Los Angeles zone and quickly went the other way in transition with Pearson, who set up Toffoli's team-high 14th goal.

Burns, who came in second in the league with 138 shots on net, started the comeback just 57 seconds later on his first shot against Quick. It was a screened 60-foot wrist shot from the right point that was set up by Thornton.

Pavelski got the equalizer with 13:54 left in the third on a redirection of Burns' shot while Christian Ehrhoff was serving a high-sticking penalty. The Sharks' captain put them ahead for the first time with 12:22 remaining, converting Thornton's pass from behind the net while Milan Lucic was off for slashing.

Burns scored his 14th of the season into an empty net with 1:10 to play.

The Kings outshot the Sharks 21-6 in the first period, but had to settle for a 2-1 lead. Toffoli opened the scoring by beating Jones high to the glove side with a 30-foot wrist shot at 1:40 of the period.

Los Angeles increased the margin to 2-0 at 4:32 when captain Dustin Brown flipped the puck toward the net from outside the right circle and Lewis redirected it past Jones' glove.

The Sharks got on the board when Pavelski passed the puck from behind the net to Brenden Dillon at the left point and Thornton redirected Dillon's one-timer past Quick's stick at the 12:12 mark.

NOTES: Toffoli had just three goals in his previous 22 games after scoring nine in his first 10. . The only time this season Burns failed to get a shot on net was Nov. 28 against Calgary in a 5-2 Sharks victory. . Tuesday was the fourth anniversary of Darryl Sutter's first game as Kings coach, a 3-2 shootout win over Anaheim. . Sutter's teams are 17-11-6 with one tie in the regular season against San Jose and 12-8 in the playoffs since he was fired by the Sharks 24 games into the 2002-03 season and hired four weeks later by Calgary. . The Kings, coming off a 5-0 loss to Toronto that ended a 3-2-1 road trip, begin a four-game trip Saturday at Arizona after the NHL's three-day Christmas break. This was their only home game in a span of 26 days.

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