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Kings-Sharks Preview

Dec 8, 2009 - 8:26 PM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Los Angeles (18-10-3) at San Jose (19-7-5), 10:30 p.m. EDT

Considering their recent success at HP Pavilion against the Los Angeles Kings, the San Jose Sharks should have a good chance at avoiding their longest home losing streak in two seasons.

With the way the Kings have played lately, however, San Jose's slide could continue Wednesday night.

The Pacific Division-leading Sharks try to win their sixth straight at home against Los Angeles, which hasn't lost in regulation in nearly two weeks.

Since opening 7-0-2 at home, the Sharks (19-7-5) have gone 1-2-1 in San Jose. They lost 2-1 to visiting Calgary on Saturday.

"We hit the post, they hit the post and both goalkeepers were good," San Jose forward Joe Pavelski said of the Flames' Miikka Kiprusoff and the Sharks' Evgeni Nabokov, who made 34 saves. "We didn't get the one we needed."

The Sharks, four points ahead of Los Angeles (18-10-3) in the division, haven't dropped three straight at home since an 0-3-2 slide from Dec. 15, 2007-Jan. 3, 2008.

San Jose is 5-0-0 versus the Kings at HP Pavilion since a 3-2 shootout loss Nov. 28, 2007. In the teams' last meeting, the host Sharks won 2-1 in a shootout Oct. 28.

The Kings will look to extend their point streak to six after defeating the Flames 2-1 on Monday. Scott Parse and Jarret Stoll scored for Los Angeles, which closed a 2-0-1 homestand with a win despite firing a season-low 16 shots on net.

"We just kept doing the right thing," said coach Terry Murray, whose team is 4-0-1 since a 4-1 loss at Vancouver on Nov. 26. "Our focus was good. Our concentration was good on doing the right thing. ... Against a team like this, you've got to make a decision that you're going to go hard and you're going to go heavy."

Los Angeles is rolling despite leading scorer Anze Kopitar's career-high 13-game goal drought. Kopitar, who has 14 goals, scored once and added two assists in a 6-4 home win over San Jose on Oct. 6.

Sharks forward Dany Heatley also had a goal and two assists in that game while teammate Joe Thornton recorded three assists.

For just the third time this season and first since Oct. 15, the Sharks' top line of Heatley, Thornton and Patrick Marleau did not record a point Saturday.

Marleau, tied with Heatley with a team-high 19 goals, scored the tying goal in the Oct. 28 victory over Los Angeles. Marleau had five goals and five assists in his last 12 games versus the Kings.

The Sharks will likely face Jon Quick, who has a 2.33 goals-against average during Los Angeles' point streak. Quick is 2-0-1 with a 2.59 GAA against San Jose.

Nabokov, expected to be in net Wednesday, has gone 15-5-1 with a 1.93 GAA in 21 home starts against Los Angeles. However, he went 0-2-1 with a 2.93 GAA in his last three starts at HP Pavilion.

Sharks forward Ryane Clowe extended his point streak to nine with a goal Saturday. He has five goals and five assists during that stretch.