• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Having reversed roles, Sharks and Kings square off

Feb 19, 2009 - 3:44 PM Los Angeles (25-22-9) at San Jose (38-8-9) 10:30 p.m. EST

SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) -- February has been Bizarro Month for the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings. On Thursday night, they get a chance to face each other and see if that trend will continue.

The Sharks have been the top team in the Western Conference for most of the season, but have registered just two victories this month. Granted, they haven't been held without a point, either - four of their five losses came after an extra session.

The Kings, however, have been bottom-feeders for the majority of this campaign, only to catch a hot streak over the last few weeks. In their case, it started in late January, as they won three of their last four and came charging into February with new life. They opened the new month with four straight victories.

While they went 0-1-2 during a brief stretch recently, they rebounded on Wednesday night with a 4-3 triumph over another Pacific Division rival, the Anaheim Ducks. Captain Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar scored a power-play goal nearly six minutes apart in the third period to propel the Kings to the victory.

Defenseman Matt Greene notched two assists and Jonathan Quick finished with 28 saves for the Kings.

However, they haven't yet been able to break through against the Sharks this season. They are winless in three meetings, though two of those losses came by a one-goal margin.

San Jose's most recent outing came Tuesday night, as Patrick Marleau scored a pair of third-period goals to life the Sharks to a 4-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers.