Kings

It was an expensive trip to Hollywood for Tom Renney. Actually, it was a costly night at Staples Center for the Oilers coach.   Renney was fined $10,000 on Tuesday by the NHL for comments made in his postgame session Monday night, specifically about the officiating in the Kings' 2-0 win against the Oilers.  "Maybe you need Hollywood in the playoffs. I'm not sure," Renney said. The 'you' apparently referred to the NHL, and Hollywood, the Kings, hence the fine. At least Renney didn't start talking about the clock at Staples Center...  ALSO: The NFL: Sam Farmer's mock draft Is Tim Tebow too good to be true and yet not good enough?

There is more than just a little bit of Ron Hextall living in the body of Kings goalie Jonathan Quick. That is, the once-hot-tempered goalie Ron Hextall, not the current calm corporate Ron Hextall, the Kings' assistant general manager, destined to run an NHL team someday. Quick waved his stick and verbally went after both referees after the Kings lost, 2-1, in overtime to the Sharks in Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal series at San Jose on Saturday night. He received a game misconduct for his actions but escaped supplementary discipline from the NHL. The league said Sunday that Quick would not be fined or suspended.

SAN JOSE - The San Jose Sharks were fined $100,000 by the NHL on Saturday because of General Manager Doug Wilson 's public criticism of the league's decision this week to suspend Sharks forward Raffi Torres . The NHL said in a statement that $25,000 was for violating a league rule prohibiting formal team statements to the media within 48 hours of a disciplinary suspension. The remaining $75,000 was for "the inappropriate nature of the comments. " BOX SCORE: Sharks 2, Kings 1 Torres delivered an open-ice hit to Kings center Jarret Stoll in Game 1 of the teams' Western Conference semifinal series, resulting in a suspected concussion for Stoll.

SAN JOSE - When Kings defenseman Drew Doughty had his day with the Stanley Cup last summer, he held a party in his hometown of London, Canada, and encouraged guests to pose for photos with the gleaming trophy. Logan Couture, Doughty's childhood pal and now a rival as a center for the San Jose Sharks, stayed behind the camera, deliberately beyond reach of the revered prize. Couture was happy for Doughty, a onetime teammate and friend since they were preteens, but his belief in one of hockey's basic tenets was even stronger.

Six of seven Sutter brothers played in the NHL. The seventh brother, Gary, had the opportunity but did not pursue a hockey career. How the brothers fared in the NHL: Brent: Played for the New York Islanders and Chicago Blackhawks during his 18-year career and recorded 829 points. Won Stanley Cup titles with the Islanders in 1982 and 1983, along with his brother Duane. Coached the New Jersey Devils from 2007 to 2009 and has been the Calgary Flames' coach since 2009. Brian: Played 12 seasons, all with the St. Louis Blues, appearing in three All-Star games before becoming a head coach with the Blues, Boston Bruins, Calgary and Chicago.

The 18,000-plus fans who crammed into Staples Center didn't want to leave, lingering to digest what they had seen and savor an improbable moment. Who could blame them for trying to prolong a moment so stunning that it was at least the equal of the many feats the Kings pulled off last spring in winning the Stanley Cup for the first time in 45 years? The Kings won a game they seemed bound to lose Thursday, rallying for two goals in the last two minutes for a 4-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks to take a solid 2-0 series lead.

San Jose winger Raffi Torres' jarring hit of Kings center Jarret Stoll on Tuesday triggered a sizable ripple effect that could alter the tone and course of the teams' Western Conference semifinal playoff series. The ripples could spread far enough for the Kings to lose a valued penalty killer for a while and for the NHL to severely punish Torres, a multiple repeat offender under the league's often murky code of justice. Torres was suspended Wednesday pending an in-person hearing scheduled Thursday in New York with the NHL's Department of Player Safety.

A shutout victory might look dominant on the scoreboard, but the Kings' players and coaches saw room for improvement after Tuesday night's 2-0 win over the San Jose Sharks. Mike Richards, who scored midway through the second period, did not like the way his team started out, with San Jose forcing most of the action in the first 10 minutes. "They had a lot of time to make plays," Richards said. "At the beginning of a series, it sometimes feels like you're trying to feel out people, but luckily it didn't cost us. " The Kings not only managed to score at the end of the first period, they also found a rhythm in the second and shut down a Sharks power play that has been very effective in this postseason.

Anze Kopitar was doing his best work with crutches, not a hockey stick, and teammate Justin Williams was courageously trying to do his best on the ice, nursing a separated shoulder. The big two? More like a battered two the last time the Kings met San Jose in the NHL playoffs, two long and winding years ago, a first-round series the Sharks won in six games. "It wasn't great," Kopitar said. That was the first thing Kopitar remembered — well, who is ever going to forget a fractured ankle?

Introspection and navel-gazing are not Darryl Sutter's favorite activities. The Kings' coach is blunt, more likely to look ahead than to over-analyze the past in search of great cosmic meaning. So, when asked about the peaks and valleys his team experienced during this lockout-shortened season, Sutter was typically direct. “There's no highs and lows,” he said. “Highs and lows right now are for them guys that are 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. They have highs, they have lows.” BOX SCORE: Kings 3, San Jose 2 The Kings earned the No. 5 playoff seeding by beating the San Jose Sharks, 3-2, Saturday at Staples Center on second-period goals by Kyle Clifford and Slava Voynov and a third-period goal by Justin Williams, earning a standing ovation from the announced sellout crowd.

During last season's run to the Stanley Cup, the Kings enjoyed an unusual edge. With no major injuries on the back end, and no pressing strategic concerns, they relied on the same six defensemen, in consistent pairings, throughout the playoffs. "You just have a feel for what the other person is going to do and when they're going to do it," veteran Rob Scuderi said. "It's not a luxury that every team gets. " This postseason is a different story. When the Kings take the ice against the San Jose Sharks in the fourth game of the Western Conference semifinals Tuesday night, Scuderi and his defensive teammates know they might be mixed and matched in different combinations.

SAN JOSE - Neatly framed but almost forgotten, a front page from the San Jose Mercury News sits against the wall in a room above the Sharks' practice rink. The newspaper photograph depicts a coach and two players, and the headline is bold: "Contenders for the Cup. " The players are goaltender Arturs Irbe and forward Sergei Makarov and the coach is Kevin Constantine. The year was 1994 and the eighth-seeded Sharks, in only their third season, were the darlings of the NHL for upsetting the No. 1 Detroit Red Wings in the first round of the playoffs before losing to the No. 2 Toronto Maple Leafs in seven games.

SAN JOSE - Live by the five-on-three and lose on the five-on-four. Two days after the Kings took advantage of a two-man advantage to rally from a one-goal deficit in a dizzying comeback against the Sharks in Game 2, they found themselves staring straight at a five-on-three disadvantage here Saturday night. They escaped the five-on-three but could not survive the five-on-four. The Sharks won it at 1:29 into overtime on Logan Couture's power-play goal, giving San Jose a 2-1 victory in Game 3 at HP Pavilion.

SAN JOSE - The San Jose Sharks were fined $100,000 by the NHL on Saturday because of General Manager Doug Wilson 's public criticism of the league's decision this week to suspend Sharks forward Raffi Torres . The NHL said in a statement that $25,000 was for violating a league rule prohibiting formal team statements to the media within 48 hours of a disciplinary suspension. The remaining $75,000 was for "the inappropriate nature of the comments. " BOX SCORE: Sharks 2, Kings 1 Torres delivered an open-ice hit to Kings center Jarret Stoll in Game 1 of the teams' Western Conference semifinal series, resulting in a suspected concussion for Stoll.

Not all playoff victories are created equal. Nor are losses. But the way the Kings won Game 2 could loom large over this Western Conference semifinal series, with Game 3 on Saturday night at San Jose. The Sharks had rallied from a two-goal deficit and were carrying a lead into the final two minutes of play Thursday night at Staples Center. Normally, if a team scores three times against Kings goalie Jonathan Quick, that is enough to win, a point on which both coaches agreed. "First off, if you score three goals you should win in the playoffs," Kings Coach Darryl Sutter said.

SAN JOSE - Jonathan Quick waved his stick and yelled at both referees as he left the ice after the Kings' 2-1 overtime loss to the Sharks on Saturday night, irate over the third-period penalty calls that put the Kings at a two-man disadvantage and tested their mettle as much as it challenged their penalty killing. Quick is normally the calmest man on the ice, stoic in the face of barrages of shots and of beefy forwards crashing his crease. But even he had his limits, and for his trouble he got a game misconduct for abuse of the officials as the Kings contemplated having their series lead narrowed to 2-1. Was Robyn Regehr's hooking penalty at 19:18 of the third period a legitimate call?

This will be the NHL's fourth all-California playoff series. The Kings beat Oakland in seven games in a 1969 first-round matchup, the Ducks beat the Sharks in the first round in six games in 2009 and the Kings lost to the Sharks in six games in the first round in 2011. The home team won all four games between the Kings and Sharks this season, and three of the four were decided by one goal. How they got here KINGS:  They beat No. 4 St. Louis in the first round in six games, becoming the first NHL team to win five straight playoff series when playing Game 1 on the road.

Long layoffs are a curious thing for an injured athlete. Weeks, sometimes months, creep by slowly. Then, suddenly, there is a quick burst of progress. That's what has happened with Kings defenseman Matt Greene , who was officially cleared for contact Monday. He practiced with his teammates in the morning and got on a plane with them to travel to a game for the first time this season. This does not mean Greene, who had back surgery in late January to repair a herniated disk, will be in the Kings' lineup Tuesday night against the Sharks at San Jose.

No one had to tell the Kings they were struggling on the power play. With only two goals through the early part of the playoffs, production had slipped from the regular season and the team was searching for answers. Mike Richards figured that he and his teammates got too fancy, trying to pass too much. Rookie Tyler Toffoli said: "We just weren't getting a lot of luck. " All of that changed Thursday night when special teams came to the rescue, accounting for three goals - including two in the last 1:43 - for the Kings' improbable 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks.

The Kings recently had a day off, a brief respite from the otherwise hectic postseason, with coaches holding an abbreviated morning skate for a dozen or so players. Drew Doughty chose to skip practice, hanging around the locker room, playing ping-pong with teammate Slava Voynov. "It's good to have a break," he said. "Make sure to get some rest. " The defenseman has earned it. During the regular season, Doughty ranked among the NHL's hardest-working players, averaging more than 26 minutes on the ice, fourth-most in the league.