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Setoguchi, Plihal lead Sharks past Kings

Oct 12, 2008 - 6:36 AM By Michael Duca PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) -- Devin Setoguchi and Tomas Plihal scored key goals in the second period as the San Jose Sharks defeated the Los Angeles Kings, 3-1, on Saturday.

Alexander Frolov netted a power-play goal at 6:34 of the first period to give the Kings the lead, but Setoguchi forged a tie 72 seconds into the middle session with his second tally in as many games.

"I thought we played great from the get-go," Setoguchi said. "Maybe a couple of times there, we turned pucks over, we weren't sticking with the game plan. But anytime you get that many shots on net, you are bound to score three or four. We played the way we wanted to play again tonight. I thought we carried the play for most of the game."

Joe Thornton snapped a pass to Marc-Edouard Vlasic at the blue line. The defenseman took a shot that bounced off Jason LaBarbera's chest to Setoguchi, who slammed the rebound between the goaltender's legs.

"After the first period, we told ourselves we need to shoot more," Vlasic said. "I think in the first 10 minutes of the game, we were a little too fancy, but we got back to shooting the puck and going to the net. Good things happen when you do that."

Plihal notched a shorthander with 2:11 left in the period as Thornton was serving a hooking penalty, giving the Sharks the lead for good.

"Coach says, 'if you have a chance, forecheck and spend some time in the offensive zone (in a shorthanded situations),'" Plihal said. "That was a good play by Vlasic. I just tried to go 1-on-1 and put it on the net."

San Jose outshot Los Angeles, 41-13, overall and held a 15-1 edge over the first 15 minutes of the second period.

"If we put pucks on the net, good things happen," Vlasic said. "Most of the time, you will get them back. Our defense is doing a good job of getting the pucks through. We need to bear down more on our chances. We're getting a lot of shots, but you won't get a lot of shots every night."

Joe Pavelski added an insurance goal 63 seconds into the third. Pavelski gained possession at the point and skated toward the net before releasing a wrist shot that trickled under LaBarbera's pads.

"A win's a win. We want them early," Pavelski said. "They will get tougher. As we get better, learning what we can do in this system, it's going pretty good for us right now, but it is only two games. The next two games are as important as these two were. It's important to get off to a good start to build confidence and learn the system."

Evgeni Nabokov turned away 12 shots for San Jose, while LaBarbera made 38 saves for the Kings, who fell to 17-15-9 in season openers.

"We just got on our heels, and we never really recovered from that," LaBarbera said. "The first game is always tough. They already had one game. We just have to have more jump. We just looked flat-footed and watched them skate around us. As a group, we just have to do a better job of moving our feet."