San Jose Goes All the Way, 2-1 : Hockey: Sharks clinch last playoff spot in Western Conference by defeating Kings.

The humiliation of an 11-victory season was long forgotten on Tuesday as the San Jose Sharks turned the Forum into their personal victory party, securing their first playoff spot with a 2-1 victory over the Kings before 14,441.

San Jose clinched the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference--eliminating the expansion Mighty Ducks--and there was no question the Sharks deserved it. Center Jamie Baker scored twice and goaltender Arturs Irbe was flawless until Luc Robitaille beat him with a power-play goal with 1:17 remaining. It was Robitaille’s 41st goal of the season and it came on a six-on-four advantage after the Kings pulled goaltender Robb Stauber for an extra attacker.

But it did not stave off the inevitable. The Kings pulled Stauber again but couldn’t tie it despite a late flurry. The Sharks came off the bench at the buzzer and hugged Irbe. And there were more hugs in the press box as owner George Gund celebrated with director of hockey operations Dean Lombardi and assistant coach Drew Remenda.

“We are not stopping now,” Irbe said. “We’re going for the Stanley Cup. I know it is very hard, but we really want to do that. We are committed to making the Stanley Cup as soon as we can.”

Said defenseman Jeff Norton: “This is just great. We surprised some people early in the season and we built some character. People were counting us out. It means that much more when people are doubting you. But we never counted ourselves out. This is a great turnaround. Great for us. Great for hockey and great for the city of San Jose.”

The Sharks (32-33-15) lead the 10th-place Kings (26-42-11) by 16 points in the Western Conference. Since losing to the Kings on March 19 at the Forum, San Jose has not lost in nine games, going 7-0-2. The Sharks have won a franchise record seven consecutive games and trail Vancouver and Chicago by two points.

What also helped the Sharks pull away so decisively was a dramatic trade by Lombardi. After the Kings defeated the Sharks on March 19, Lombardi acquired forward Ulf Dahlen from the Dallas Stars for defensemen Doug Zmolek and Mike Lalor.

Lombardi’s move checkmated the Kings and the Ducks. Dahlen has five goals and 11 points since joining the Sharks.

San Jose has shown that a team can succeed with the right changes. Last season, it won 11 games and finished with 24 points. They made a handful of player moves and hired a fiery young coach, Kevin Constantine.

So, after two losing seasons, the Sharks reached the playoffs. It has been a foregone conclusion in the last week, however. And Tuesday, the Kings didn’t exactly test Irbe until late in the game. He faced 23 shots, including four in the first period. His two biggest saves came early in the second period on scoring chances by Mike Donnelly and Jari Kurri.

King Notes

Defenseman Marty McSorley said he will need surgery after the season to repair a torn abdominal muscle. He suffered the initial injury when playing with the Pittsburgh Penguins and aggravated it since returning to the Kings. Performing the surgery will be Vancouver specialist Ross Davidson. . . . Wayne Gretzky, one of the two winners of this year’s Lester Patrick Award, will be honored at a luncheon today at the Century Plaza Hotel. The award was first presented by the New York Rangers in 1966 to honor the Rangers’ longtime coach and general manager. Also being honored is Bob Ridder, a member of the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.