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Quick, Kings beat Sharks to stay alive

Apr 24, 2011 - 7:22 AM San Jose, CA (Sports Network) - Jonathan Quick made a franchise playoff-record 51 saves to help the Los Angeles Kings stave off elimination with a 3-1 win over the San Jose Sharks in Game 5 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

Kyle Clifford and Wayne Simmonds both had a goal and an assist while Dustin Penner also scored for the Kings, who were coming off a pair of losses at home.

"We needed him to play like this tonight," said Los Angeles head coach Terry Murray about Quick. "We knew the were gonna come out with energy and emotion and we needed him to win this game. He's the reason why we're still alive in this series."

Los Angeles will need to win at home on Monday in Game 6 to keep the series alive.

Patrick Marleau scored the only goal for the Sharks, who saw Antti Niemi stop just one of four shots before being pulled from the net less than nine minutes in. Antero Niittymaki made 18 saves the rest of the way.

"We would have like to finish it off tonight," said Marleau. "But we will talk about it tomorrow, figure out what we did wrong and come back for the next one better prepared."

In a span of 5:06 in the first period, the Kings took control of the game with three goals.

The first goal came at the 3:36 mark when Rob Scuderi blasted a shot on net from the left point that was tipped by Clifford, then Simmonds for a 1-0 lead.

Under four minutes later, the Kings took a 2-0 advantage as a 2-on-1 break saw Simmonds' shot from the left side stopped and Clifford banging in the rebound from the right side.

Penner completed the burst 1:28 later when he ended up with the puck in the high slot after a turnover in the San Jose end, snapping a wrister into the net.

That was all for Niemi and Niittymaki took over between the pipes.

The Sharks got one back 5:43 into the second when Marleau jammed the puck in from the left side of the net.

From there, nothing else got by Quick as he made 14 stops in the second frame then turned aside 18 shots in the third period.

Game Notes

San Jose went 0-for-4 on the power play while Los Angeles went 0-for-1...Los Angeles has come back from a 3-1 deficit to win a series just once in its history. That was back in 1989 when the Kings ousted Edmonton in seven games of a division semifinal series...This is the first time the Sharks and Kings are meeting in the postseason.