Sharks 4 - 3 Kings
Final - OT
  for this game

Sharks try to finish off Kings in LA

Apr 25, 2011 - 2:56 PM (Sports Network) - The Los Angeles Kings will try to push their Western Conference quarterfinal series to the limit when they host the second-seeded San Jose Sharks tonight for Game 6 of the best-of-seven set at the Staples Center.

The Kings are trailing San Jose three-games-to-two in the series after staving off elimination with a 3-1 victory in Saturday's Game 5 at the Shark Tank. Jonathan Quick carried Los Angeles on his back in that victory, making a franchise playoff-record 51 saves to help the seventh-seeded Kings stay alive.

"We needed him to play like this tonight," said Los Angeles head coach Terry Murray about Quick. "We knew they 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."

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 in Games 3 and 4.

Los Angeles had a solid 25-13-3 record as the host team this year, but the club's two home tests in this series were disasters. The Kings blew a four- goal lead to lose Game 3 by a 6-5 score and were pounded by the Sharks, 6-3, in the next test.

However, the Kings can redeem themselves on home ice tonight and force a decisive Game 7 in San Jose on Wednesday.

Patrick Marleau scored the only goal for the Sharks in the Game 5 loss, which saw Antti Niemi stop just one of four shots before being pulled from the net less than nine minutes into the opening period. Antero Niittymaki made 18 saves the rest of the way.

"We would have liked 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."

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.

San Jose has never lost a series when leading three-games-to-one.

Los Angeles is back in the playoffs for a second straight year after missing the postseason tournament in the previous six seasons. The Kings, who lost to Vancouver in the first round last spring, haven't won a playoff series since beating Detroit in the opening round of the 2001 postseason.

The Sharks are trying to embark on another deep playoff run after making it to the conference finals a year ago. San Jose was swept by Chicago in the third round last spring.

The Sharks and Kings split six regular season games this year, but the Sharks held the points edge over LA with a 3-1-2 mark and posted a 6-1 home victory in the final meeting on April 4.

This is the first time the Sharks and Kings are meeting in the postseason.

San Jose had a 23-14-4 mark on the road during the regular season.






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