San Jose Sharks

VS. SAN JOSE Time: 1 p.m. On the air: TV: FS West; Radio: 1150. Where: Staples Center. Records: Kings 33-37-11, Sharks 53-17-11. Record vs. Sharks: 0-3-2. Update: The Kings have been shut out a franchise-record 11 times. Jonathan Quick has given up only 13 regulation goals in his last eight games but has won only three of those games. -- Billy Witz

He has the beard of a hockey player residing in the first round of the playoffs, not one of a man living for months in the mountains. Kings forward Jeff Carter offered a take on the attitude - and, well, altitude - of a now-compelling playoff series between the Kings and the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference quarterfinals. "Yeah, we're halfway there. Halfway up the mountain," Carter said Sunday afternoon at the Kings' practice facility in El Segundo. Game 6 is Monday night at Staples Center with the Sharks holding a three-games-to-two series lead.

The Kings and the San Jose Sharks open their Stanley Cup playoff series Tuesday night at Staples Center. Pressure? Sure. This is Southern California's last chance. Lose this series and Los Angeles is nothing more than the Bay Area's lap dog. Look around. See the Lakers or Clippers in the NBA playoffs? Nope? Well, the Golden State Warriors are still alive, and are capable of feats beyond the Lakers' grasp … beating the San Antonio Spurs. The San Francisco Giants spent the winter as World Series champions.

SAN JOSE - At 21, Matt Nieto still looks very much like a college student talking about coming home for Christmas or spring break. But while Nieto happens to be employed by a successful hockey team, he still opts for comfort when he comes home to Long Beach. Where does he go first? "In-N-Out," Nieto said, smiling, answering without hesitation. "Every time I go home, the first place I go is In-N-Out. " You can take the kid out of Southern California, but you can't quite take all of Southern California out of the kid. Never mind that they have plenty of those burger spots in Northern California and San Jose.

SAN JOSE - The Pacific Division lead might change hands dozens of times before the season ends, but knowing that the winner of Wednesday's game between the Kings and the San Jose Sharks would take over first place added a dash of tension when the teams met at SAP Center. Finishing atop the tough division "is what we wanted to do, set out at training camp to do," Kings center Jarret Stoll said. If that goal seemed unlikely when goaltender Jonathan Quick (groin strain) joined stalwart defenseman Matt Greene (upper-body injury)

Devin Setoguchi scored two of San Jose's six consecutive goals and the Sharks took advantage of New York backup goalie Steve Valiquette in a 7-3 comeback victory Monday night that ended the Rangers' seven-game winning streak. The Sharks got off to a sluggish start in the first half of the first period, falling behind, 2-0. San Jose got even before the period had ended and then scored three more goals in the second on 10 shots. No. 1 netminder Henrik Lundqvist took over in the third for Valiquette, who allowed five goals on 18 shots.

The San Jose Sharks, knowing they need a teacher to develop young players expected to dominate the NHL expansion team's roster next season, hired George Kingston as their first coach Friday. Kingston, 51, was an assistant coach with the Minnesota North Stars in 1988-89 before spending the last two seasons as the coach of Norway's national team. He rejoins Shark General Manager Jack Ferreira, the North Stars' general manager during Kingston's year as an assistant.

His arms thrust high … and just like that, the weight seemed to lift off the shoulders of a jubilant Anze Kopitar after his second goal of the season. Nothing quite like an overtime goal against the league's best team to do the trick. The Kings center had broken a season-long scoring drought last week, but his game-winner on the power play at 2 minutes 32 seconds was in a different category, leading the Kings to a 4-3 victory against the San Jose Sharks in overtime on Wednesday night at Staples Center.

The first note sounds, and the fans take their cue. Curving their hands into claws, fingers spread, one palm facing up and the other down, they move as one body with 34,380 arms. To the ominous rumbling of the theme from "Jaws," they drop their top hands down and move their bottom hands up, creating a sea of snapping mouths ready to chomp anyone not wearing teal, black and white. Welcome to the Shark Tank.

The most important news regarding the Kings did not take place in their fight-filled 4-3 exhibition victory over the San Jose Sharks at the Forum. Instead, it occurred earlier Wednesday when the team agreed to terms with left wing Tony Granato. Granato, 29, is coming off his finest NHL season with 37 goals and 82 points and is one of the most popular Kings by virtue of his hard-hitting, feisty style. The contract is for two years and an option.

Justin Williams reached back and delivered some of his Game 7 playoff magic for the Kings in Game 4. For the Kings, it might as well have been Game 7. Justin Time. Or should that be Just In Time? With the Kings facing playoff elimination against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night, Williams, who had been without a point in the first three games, scored twice in the Kings' 6-3 victory over the Sharks in Game 4 at Staples Center. San Jose leads the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series, three games to one. Game 5 will be on Saturday in San Jose.

Sometimes, coaches make lineup decisions based on a gut feeling. When those decisions backfire, their gut feelings can become spasms of tension, anxiety, and early-playoff-exit regrets. Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau, fighting a reputation of being unable to lead talented teams in Washington and Anaheim deep into postseason play, made several decisions Friday that proved pivotal in the 6-2 victory that gave the Ducks a 3-2 lead over the Dallas Stars in the teams' opening-round playoff series.

Their big guys played big, the leaders led by fearless example, and the Kings, on the brink of going home for the summer, got the result they so urgently needed, a 6-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Thursday at Staples Center that extended their season by at least one more game. "We're alive," said winger Marian Gaborik, who played a huge part in resuscitating them by scoring their first and fifth goals. Justin Williams scored twice in a three-goal spree in the second period, and rookie Tyler Toffoli chipped in with the kind of skillful goal the Kings need from him in the short- and long-term future.

The band is getting back together. Well, at least two-thirds of it. Based on line rushes at Thursday's morning skate at Staples Center, it appears as though Kings captain Dustin Brown and center Anze Kopitar will be reunited for Game 4 against the Sharks on Tuesday night. They were a fixture, along with winger Justin Williams, during the Kings' run to the Stanley Cup in 2012, and a frequent partnership during many of their years with the Kings. There is a slight wrinkle, however, as Marian Gaborik was with them on Thursday morning.

Lakers guards Nick Young and Jordan Farmar are enjoying the off-season, making appearances at a Kings game at Staples Center on Tuesday and taking in a Dodgers game Wednesday. Young and Farmar grew up in Los Angeles -- Young played for Cleveland High School in Reseda while Farmar went to Taft in Woodland Hills. Both joined the Lakers last summer. Farmar, originally drafted in 2006 with the 26th overall pick by the team, was in his second stint after playing overseas in Turkey.

He happens to be the kind of hard-working, energetic player coaches like and trust, so it is not entirely surprising that forward Colin Fraser was recalled by the Kings on Tuesday. The timing was slightly surprising, though, coming on the eve of Game 3 of the playoffs against the San Jose Sharks. Fraser had been sent down to the Kings' American Hockey League affiliate in Manchester, N.H., on Feb. 9, and it seemed like he might never get the call to come back. “There's always the hope you get called up,” Fraser said after Tuesday's morning skate at Staples Center.

Veteran forward John Tonelli headed a list of 10 Kings left unprotected Wednesday for today's NHL expansion draft. Also thrown into the pool from which either the new San Jose Sharks or the Minnesota North Stars can take one King were defensemen Tim Watters, Bob Halkidis, Peter Prajsler and Tom Laidlaw, and forwards Ilkka Sinisalo and Scott Bjugstad, along with three minor leaguers, goalie Mario Gosselin, defenseman Rick Hayward and forward Jim Thomson.

The scene is a suburban amusement center in Phoenix. Several members of the San Diego Gulls, led by teen-age center Ray Whitney, have strapped on their seat belts and are revving their engines for a go-kart ride. The signs are clearly visible: "No bumping or reckless driving." But Whitney can't control his urge to cause mischief. He's a 19-year-old rebel without a cause. He thinks he's Richard Petty.

A power outage darkened the SAP Center on Thursday night shortly before the Kings and San Jose Sharks were scheduled to warm up for their playoff opener, leaving the crowd murmuring in confusion and forcing antsy players to wait in corridors illuminated by dim backup lights while they wondered what to do next. About six minutes later the lights came back on and the teams took to the ice. For the Kings, everything went downhill from there. Their 6-3 loss to the Sharks was by far their worst this season.

SAN JOSE - This was like a nasty flashback, one bad journey into the darkness for Kings fans. The loyal old-timers have scar tissue around the old wound - long ago playoff blowouts, losses to the likes of the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames in the late '80s and early '90s. Undoubtedly, the latest cut will take time to heal. The Kings were thoroughly outplayed in Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals as the San Jose Sharks defeated them, 6-3, at the SAP Center on Thursday night.