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Kopitar's late goals end Sharks' points streak

Apr 4, 2008 - 6:21 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The San Jose Sharks finally suffered a loss in regulation.

Anze Kopitar snapped a tie with 5:38 left in the third period and added an empty-netter in the closing seconds as the Los Angeles Kings skated away with a 4-2 victory over the Sharks on Thursday night.

Brian Willsie and tough guy Raitis Ivanans also scored for the Kings, who picked up their fourth win against their intrastate rivals this season.

"It was nice to break that streak of theirs," Kopitar said. "I think we kind of deserved this win. We had a lot of chances that we didn't put in the back of the net at first, but luckily, in the end, the bounces went our way."

Joe Thornton had a goal and an assist and Joe Pavelski also tallied for the Sharks (49-22-10), who suffered their first regulation loss since February 20 against the New Jersey Devils - a span of 20 games in which they went 18-0-2.

"It was going to come to an end at some point, but it shouldn't have been like that," Sharks assistant captain Mike Grier said. "We slept through the first two periods. We weren't charged enough and we didn't play with enough intensity to match them.

"We played better in the third, but when it comes down to it, they played better and deserved to win."

Despite the loss, the Sharks will enter the playoffs as the second seed in the Western Conference after their slim chances of claiming the Presidents' Trophy ended when the Detroit Red Wings (53-21-7) posted a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets earlier Thursday.

"It was a streak that wasn't talked about enough," San Jose coach Ron Wilson said of the points streak. "We were unbeaten for the entire month of March, and that's something that has never happened."

With the streak is over, the Sharks now can turn their attention to the postseason. But Wilson insisted his players will not sit out the regular-season finale against the Dallas Stars on Sunday.

"It was good to see some people in the lineup that don't play as much to see what they can do with more ice time and I can make a better decision once the playoffs start," Wilson said. "I'm not going to rest anybody for the last game in Dallas. Those fans didn't pay to see Joe Thornton or Patrick Marleau sit in the press box."

With the game deadlocked in the third period, Scott Thornton fired a pass to Dustin Brown down low. The left wing was unable to control the puck, however, and it bounced to Kopitar right in front of the net.

The All-Star Slovenian slapped the puck past goaltender Evgeni Nabokov to give Los Angeles a 3-2 lead.

"It was a great play by (Brown)," Kopitar said. "He had to shift to get balance, and he just put out his stick and deflected (the puck) across the crease. I had the defenseman on my other shoulder, so I could get the shot off."

It was Kopitar's 31st goal of the season and first in the last three games.

The Sharks opened the scoring just 34 seconds into the game, when Joe Thornton netted his 29th goal of the season. Making his NHL debut after being recalled earlier in the day, Tom Cavanagh notched an assist on the play.

The Kings pulled even early in the second period.

Michael Cammalleri picked up a loose puck after San Jose failed to gain possession in front of its own net and sent a short pass to Willsie, who fired a wrist shot past Nabokov at 2:14.

Ivanans snapped the tie midway through the second, netting his second goal in as many games on a wrist shot from the right faceoff circle off a feed from behind the net by Alexander Frolov.

"No, I don't think (league-leading scorer) Alex Ovechkin is worried," joked Ivanans, who has scored in consecutive games for the first time in his career. "Frolov made a nice play and my job was just to go to the net."

But San Jose forged a 2-2 tie during a power play early in the third. Marleau completed a pass to Pavelski, who buried a wrister at 3:03 for his 19th of the season.

"It was a great pass by (Marleau)," Pavelski said. "We made eye contact as I was coming down the slot, he put it on my tape and I let it go. That's how they draw it up in the books."