Kings Find Their Power Play in San Jose : Hockey: Los Angeles scores twice with man advantages and improves road record to 7-4-3 with a 7-3 victory.

Seven goals had been a goal for the Kings, at least for more than a year and counting. Their power-play shortcomings have been a concern during the last five weeks. And they were wondering if San Jose goaltender Arturs Irbe was going to keep performing like the legendary Ken Dryden against them.

These questions were answered, in part, in the Kings’ 7-3 victory over the Sharks Sunday night. The sellout crowd of 17,190 at San Jose Arena watched the Sharks lose their eighth consecutive game at home, falling to a revitalized King offense, which was boosted by a four-goal second period.

Perhaps the road is the answer. The Kings have won only three of 16 games at home, but they are 7-4-3 away from the Forum.

The last time the Kings (10-14-6) scored seven goals was in a 7-0 victory against Ottawa on March 15, 1994. One might argue that the Senators can’t be considered a legitimate NHL team but that’s beside the point.

Leading them Sunday night was rookie center Yanic Perreault, fresh off the Phoenix shuttle, as he scored his first goal as a King and added two assists for a career-high three-point performance. Defenseman Darryl Sydor picked up three assists and John Druce scored twice--his 10th and 11th goals of the season--and Rick Tocchet added his team-leading 15th goal of the season.

“I had a few chances earlier and missed some breakaways,” said Perreault, who was recalled with Kevin Brown on Saturday because of injuries to forwards Jari Kurri and Robert Lang.

“The first one is the hardest to get, maybe it will help me get a few more goals.”

The power play, mired in a 3-for-52 slump the last 15 games, stirred with two goals in five opportunities. It was the first time the Kings have scored more than one power-play goal since getting two against Vancouver on Feb. 18.

They easily could have had more than six goals against Irbe, who was replaced by Wade Flaherty for the third period. Flaherty allowed a shorthanded goal by King defenseman Chris Snell, at 14:45, which was Snell’s first in the NHL. Irbe was unusually shaky against the Kings, allowing six goals on 18 shots, including four goals on eight shots in the second period.

King Coach Barry Melrose was beginning to think Irbe was Dryden.

“Un-Ken Dryden like?” Melrose said. “It was nice to have him un-Dryden for once.”

Said Tocchet: “This was a guy who had our number. These are the kind of goals that make the goalie second-guess himself, going in on him one on one.”

Tocchet said the team devoted half of its Sunday morning meeting to the power play. What resulted from that was better work along the boards, and Tocchet moved from his usual position in front of the net to up higher in the slot. “I’m useless tying myself in front with a guy and Gretz (Wayne Gretzky) doesn’t have many plays,” he said. “Now Wayne can hit me.”

Gretzky, Tocchet and the rest of the Kings momentarily lost their composure at the start of the second period, because of an unusual bench penalty. The Kings were given a two-minute minor for leaving the bench too quickly at the end of the first period. Tocchet and Troy Crowder jumped out seconds early, but the Kings weren’t told about it until minutes before the second.

“I haven’t seen it called in three years,” Melrose said. “That was a pretty weak call.”

And it seemed to signal a momentum switch. Shark defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh scored on the ensuing power play 37 seconds into the period, tying the game, 2-2. But the Kings responded with with unanswered goals by Eric Lacroix and Perreault.