Logan Couture scored the winning goal in OT to cut the Kings’ series lead to 2-1. (Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

Funny how things work out, isn’t it?

Two nights ago, the Los Angeles Kings scored twice when given a late five-on-three advantage to beat the San Jose Sharks in Game 2 of their series.

Tonight, the Sharks were handed the same two-man advantage, and in overtime, no less. The Kings killed off the first penalty, but Logan Couture made them pay for the second, scoring the clincher 1:29 into the extra frame to earn San Jose a 2-1 win in Game 3.

The win cuts Los Angeles’ series lead to 2-1, and gives the Sharks new life with Game 4 coming up Tuesday night in San Jose.

Here are some observations from Saturday night’s thriller:

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The Kings scored two goals within 22 seconds to take Game 2 and secure a 2-0 series lead. (Evan Gole/Getty)

If we’ve learned anything from watching hockey this week, it’s this: No lead is safe in the 2013 NHL playoffs.

Three days after the Boston Bruins pulled off a miraculous three-goal Game 7 comeback against the Maple Leafs, the defending champion Los Angeles Kings worked some last-minute magic of their own, scoring two power play goals 22 seconds apart to earn a stunning 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks.

It’s fair to wonder after this one if the Sharks can recover. The visitors were on the verge of evening up the series, riding three unanswered goals to a 3-2 lead when the thrill ride began. Energetic rookie Tyler Toffoli was hauled down by San Jose’s Brad Stuart while driving the net, drawing a penalty at 17:19 of the third. Seconds later, Marc-Edouard Vlasic joined him in the box after clearing the puck into the crowd, putting the Kings on a five-on-three. And just like that, it was over. Dustin Brown pounced on a rebound of a Mike Richards shot and shoveled it behind Antti Niemi to tie the score. On the next shift, Trevor Lewis drove the net and buried another rebound, this one off a Toffoli shot, to seal the win with just 1:21 remaining.

For Los Angeles, this was a statement game. There’s more than one way the Kings can win.

As for the Sharks? They made a statement, too, only it was less flattering. They were the better team for much of the night. They scored three on Jonathan Quick. But in the end, they let the Kings take it away from them.

And their chance at winning the series may have gone with it.

Here are some more observations from Game 2:

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Jonathan Quick was stellar for the Kings, but was aided by the defense in front of him. (Chris Williams/Icon SMI)

By Allan Muir

It’s safe to assume that Jonathan Quick will be called upon to steal a game or two if the Los Angeles Kings hope to hold onto their title as Stanley Cup champs. But don’t be fooled by Tuesday’s 35-save performance: The series-opening 2-0 win over the San Jose Sharks was not one of those stolen wins.

That’s not to diminish Quick’s efforts as much as it is to give credit where it’s due.

While Quick was a model of poise and efficiency, stopping everything he faced with a minimum of motion, his teammates’ efforts made it all look so easy. For all the time of possession, for all the opportunities the Sharks had to let fly, the Kings never allowed them what they really needed: control of the puck in the middle of the ice or on Quick’s doorstep. Held to the outside all night, San Jose racked up shots but few real scoring chances.

Rebounds? Deflections? Not a chance. If a puck eluded Quick’s control off the original shot, it was quickly swept into a corner or up and out of the zone by a someone in a black sweater.

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Sharks defenseman Brent Burns, now a forward, had great success against the Kings this season. (Ben Margot/AP)

By Allan Muir

Snapshot

The Sharks barely broke a sweat in sweeping the Canucks in the first round, while the Kings outslugged the Blues in a grueling and physical six-game series that left L.A. battered and bruised. San Jose comes into this meeting with fresher legs and three lines, anchored by Joe Thornton, Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski, that are capable of carrying the offense on any given night. Los Angeles had to peck and scratch for goals against St. Louis, but the Kings have gotten their defensive swagger back. The defending champs look like a very tough out.

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Joe Thornton was justifiably happy after two of his shots led directly to San Jose goals in Game 4. (Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

This time it wasn’t the goaltender. Or a snake-bitten offense. Or a “so-called Canadian” opponent beguiling the officials with craven attacks on the integrity of the game.

No, by the time the red light went on to signal Patrick Marleau’s decisive goal in Game 4, it was clear: the Vancouver Canucks, all of them, just weren’t good enough to beat the San Jose Sharks. Not even close.

San Jose’s 4-3 overtime win Tuesday night ended a season that, cruelly, lasted just four games more than those played by the Florida Panthers and the Colorado Avalanche and the rest of the dregs of the league. It’s a miserable fate for the Northwest division champs, but one they deserved, just as surely as the Sharks deserved to move on to the next round as one of the NHL’s elite eight.

Here are some observations from tonight’s series clincher:

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San Jose’s Logan Couture scored two goals and added two assists on Sunday. (Don Smith/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

Three teams in NHL history have climbed back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series in seven games.

It’s a pretty good bet the Vancouver Canucks won’t be the fourth.

The Canucks changed netminders, switched up their defensive pairings and may even have even poured a tiny glass of rum for Jobu. But the same problem that led to losses in the first two games — a pronounced inability to score — was again the prime culprit in a 5-2 Game 3 defeat suffered at the hands of the San Jose Sharks.

Here are some takeaways from a lopsided Sunday night contest that has the third-seeded Canucks on the brink of elimination:

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Raffi Torres scored the winning goal for the Sharks in overtime in Game 2. (Derek Leung/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

Call it Raffi’s Revenge.

Early in Friday’s contest between Vancouver and San Jose, Sharks shift disturber Raffi Torres was robbed by Roberto Luongo. Blatantly, historically robbed. Torres’ one-timer was steaming into the open side and give San Jose a 2-0 lead until Luongo flopped across the crease and snared it with his glove. It was larceny of the highest degree.

So it was fitting that it was Torres who broke in with Brent Burns on a decisive two-on-one early in overtime of Game 2. And this time, when Burns’ pass slipped past the outstretched stick of Kevin Bieksa and landed right on Torres’ tape, there would be no miracle stop for the Canucks’ keeper. As Luongo slid to his right, Torres’ wrister beat him under the crossbar to seal a come-from-behind 3-2 win for the Sharks and snare a stunning 2-0 series lead.

Here are five quick thoughts after the game:

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San Jose’s Raffi Torres (top) provided a noticeable amount of toughness on the forecheck. (Derek Leung/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

For 40 minutes Wednesday night, the San Jose Sharks and Vancouver Canucks, two ill-tempered veteran sides teetering on the edge of irrelevance, went toe-to-toe in a mean-spirited contest, with both sides looking to exact an early toll in their first-round series. The officials obliged by putting away the whistles and letting the boys play.

What a vicious thrill it was. When the pace finally, mercifully, slowed in the third, the visiting Sharks found the strength to strike twice against surprise Vancouver starter Roberto Luongo, sealing a 3-1 San Jose win.

Here are some quick takeaways from Game 1:

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Goaltender Antti Niemi and the Sharks swept the Canucks, 3-0, in the season series. (Derek Leung/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

EAST PREVIEWS: Pens-Islanders | Canadiens-Senators | Capitals-Rangers | Bruins-Leafs

WEST PREVIEWS: Hawks-Wild | Ducks-Red Wings | Canucks-Sharks | Blues-Kings

Regular-season recaps

Jan. 27: Sharks 4, Canucks 1

March 5: Sharks 3, Canucks 2 (SO)

April 1: Sharks 3, Canucks 2

Notable injuries

Canucks: G Cory Schneider (body injury, day-to-day); LW David Booth (ankle injury, out indefinitely); D Chris Tanev (lower body, out indefinitely)

Sharks: D Jason Demers (lower body, day-to-day)

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By Allan Muir

Apparently the “He hit me first!” defense does work any better with Sheriff Shanny than it does on the average parent.

San Jose defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic trotted out the old chestnut, but was still fined the maximum allowable under the CBA ($8,378.38) for slashing Minnesota’s Dany Heatley after the final buzzer of Wednesday night’s 4-2 Sharks win.

Vlasic was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct on the play that saw Heatley swing his stick (and miss) first, prompting Vlasic to showcase his superior aim. They always get the retaliator, don’t they?

Heatley suffered an injury, but he told the Department of Player Safety that it occurred in the ensuing scrum and not as a result of Vlasic’s slash. That probably helped Vlasic’s case.

The crazy amount of the fine actually has a basis. As a first-time offender, Vlasic could be fined the lesser of ten grand or half his daily salary.