Darryl Sutter

San Jose Sharks winger Raffi Torres' hearing with the NHL's Department of Player Safety for his hit on Kings center Jarret Stoll on Tuesday has ended, but the league is not expected to announce its verdict until later Thursday. The announcement probably will be made before Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinal series between the Kings and Sharks is played Thursday night at Staples Center. The Kings won the opener, 2-0, but lost Stoll late in the second period to a suspected concussion that is likely to keep him out a week or more.

The Kings, who are still hoping to finish as high as fourth in the West but could drop to fifth or sixth, won't have Matt Greene in their lineup for their season finale Saturday night at Staples Center. Coach Darryl Sutter said Greene's injury isn't long-term but Sutter wouldn't specify the nature of the injury Greene suffered during the Kings' 3-1 loss at Detroit on Wednesday. Sutter did say that the  injury was not related to the back woes that led Greene to undergo surgery after playing in the season opener.

Jonathan Quick was the first goalie to leave the ice Friday after practice at El Segundo, generally the right of the next game's starter. It was mildly surprising, considering that Jonathan Bernier had shut out Minnesota on Thursday, but to Coach Darryl Sutter - who doesn't disclose his starter - it made perfect sense. "We trust them both. We have to do it that way," Sutter said. "With 11 games left we want them both to be consistent and we'll definitely need them both.

The question made Darryl Sutter shake his head. Even with his team pushing deep into the playoffs, the Kings' coach rejected the notion that this season is starting to feel like last year's march to the Stanley Cup. "Not close yet," he said. "Not even half-close. " From the front office down to the locker room, people throughout the organization see crucial differences in their route toward the championship this time around. Whereas last season was marked by big moves - a coaching change, trades - the Kings say they have now reached the Western Conference finals against the Chicago Blackhawks in a steadier, more subtle fashion.

Dean Lombardi praised Darryl Sutter so effusively it sounded as if he had just hired Sutter to coach the San Jose Sharks, instead of having fired Sutter and his assistants. Sutter "gave us an element of respectability we truly lacked," Lombardi said. And no, the general manager didn't think players had tuned Sutter out after five seasons, during which the Sharks increased their point total each season.

Six games is a small sample but enough to conclude that Darryl Sutter has had a positive impact on the Kings since he succeeded Terry Murray as their coach. Their impressive 4-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night at Staples Center improved their record to 4-0-2 under Sutter and meant they had scored more than two goals twice in the last four games. They weren't able to exceed two goals in regulation in 14 games before their 4-3 victory over Phoenix last Monday in Sutter's third game behind their bench.

As an NHL player, Darryl Sutter couldn't afford to become complacent. He didn't have the raw talent some of his five hockey-playing brothers possessed, yet he became an acknowledged leader during a solid NHL career that was cut short by injuries. As a coach, Sutter has brought that same drive to the Kings' locker room and bench. Any player who lets up or shows signs of smugness will hear a bark from Sutter and feel a not-so-gentle nudge in the ribs from the player in the next locker stall.

Hint No. 1 that this was something big. Text messages. "It's one of those signs you've done something unusual," he said. Hint No. 2 that this was something extra big. An outpouring of fan support, post-midnight, adjacent to LAX after the Kings' flight had landed. "It was like driving down a hallway lined with human flesh," he said. "You couldn't see anything except people screaming and Kings jerseys. It was a feeling that not anyone will forget ever, I think on the Kings team.

Players are always searching for that extra tool, an extra edge, and Sharks forward Ryane Clowe might have flicked on the light bulb in the league by reaching over the bench with his stick to illegally play the puck against the Kings. Not only did he disrupt the Kings' rush late in regulation, but also Clowe got away with it, unseen by the referees Thursday night at Staples Center. "It was pretty effective. I'm thinking about using it myself," said Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi , joking in his usual dry manner.