Rudolf Balcer Photo: NHL
In the second game in a row with a goal in the National Hockey League (NHL), Latvian striker Rudolf Balcer stood out, who tonight helped the Sharks home of San Jose to tear down the Kings of Los Angeles 6: 2. The main character of the match was the Swiss striker Timo Meiers, who threw five discs in the opponent’s fortress.
Balcers played in San Jose in the second three of the attackers with Meyer and Czech striker Tomas Hertl. The Latvian spent 15 minutes and 43 seconds (85 seconds in the minority) on the court, during which he made three shots on the opponents’ goal, one of which was intangible for Kings goalkeeper Jonathan Kvick, and earned an excellent efficiency of +3.
Sharks had a great first third and laid a solid foundation for victory. In the fourth minute, Meiers, a member of the Balcher substitution, realized the numerical majority and revealed the result of the match (1: 0). It remained unchanged until the 16th minute, when the home threw three discs into the opponent’s fortress in just over three minutes. Balcers started the gate in San Jose.
16 minutes into the match, the visitors’ central line of defense had to look on as Hertla dashed through, knocking home 3 – 0 for Hertla. Balcers doubled their lead in San Jose and scored the second game in a row (2: 0). He also stood out in a match on January 16 against Pittsburgh’s Penguins, represented by Latvian striker Teodors Blugers, against whom he scored the only goal for Sharks in the first game after returning from injury. There are 12 (4 + 8) points in 27 games in Balcer’s account this season.
Rudolfs Balcers grabs Hertl’s dish from the point and doubles the San Jose lead!#SJSharks pic.twitter.com/7rhwiGM4ss
— Hockey Daily 365 (@HockeyDaily365) January 17, 2022
Balcer’s goal was somewhat overshadowed by the performance of her exchange partner, Meier. In the continuation of the first period, the Swiss delivered the puck to the Kings goal two more times and made a hat-trick in the 20th minute of the match. In the last seconds of the first third, the Slovenian Angers Kopitars regained one goal for Los Angeles (1: 4), but in the second third, Meiers threw two more discs into the guest fortress and reached 6: 1.
The Swiss striker became the first hockey player in the history of the Sharks club to score five goals in one match. In the middle of the last period, Kings defender Mickey Anderson delighted the Los Angeles fans with a second goal in the match and reduced the result to four goals – 2: 6. For the remaining nine and a half minutes, the result did not change.
FIVE GOALS FROM TIMO MEIER.
That’s a @PPG Colorful Moment if we ever did see one! pic.twitter.com/Ng4kJ854Oc
— NHL (@NHL) January 17, 2022
The Sharks broke a series of two losses and won their fourth win in six games. In addition, only one of the last six matches in San Jose has been scored. Kings, on the other hand, suffered their first loss in the last five games. This was only the second failure of the Los Angeles team in the last eight matches.
The two teams are now practically next to each other after the match – Kings, with 45 points in 39 games, are in sixth place in the Western Conference, while Sharks have scored 44 points and are in eighth place in the Western Conference.
The next game in San Jose will take place in just three days (January 21), when the league’s newcomer, Seattle’s Kraken, will meet at 5:00.
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