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Patrick Marleau's OT goal puts Sharks on brink of sweeping Kings (Video)

AP

It was looking like the Los Angeles Kings were going to fight off falling behind 0-3 to the San Jose Sharks when Jeff Carter tipped home a power play goal early in the third period for a 3-2 lead. The Staples Center was alive with hope.

Then it all came crashing down eight minutes later when Tomas Hertl scored after four whacks in front of Jonathan Quick to tie the game. In overtime, it was Patrick Marleau scoring his 60th career playoff goal to give San Jose a 4-3 win and commanding 3-0 series lead:

The Kings now must regroup for Thursday's Game 4 and hope to make history with a comeback in the series. But improvements need to be made if they're to have any chance.

Jonathan Quick has an .840 even strength save percentage through three games. Only Ilya Bryzgalov is worse (.818). Jeff Carter finally broke through with a goal, but when Jake Muzzin and Trevor Lewis are your leading goal scorers (two apiece), that's not going to help you beat the Sharks.

LA did a good job of slowing down San Jose at times throughout the game, clogging up the neutral, taking the Sharks' game away from them and winning the possession battle for the first time in the series.

"We’ll play better tomorrow. It’s not like there was a death in the family or something," said Kings head coach Darryl Sutter on Monday.

The hole is dug and the Sharks are pouring dirt on top.

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Sean Leahy

is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!