Kings Get There First

The most important play in the Kings’ 4-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks Wednesday night occurred late in the first period.

The Kings’ Luc Robitaille won a battle with San Jose’s Andrei Zyuzin behind the Sharks’ goal. Ray Ferraro ended up with the puck and passed back to Robitaille, who found Rob Blake for the game’s first goal.

The Kings are 15-1-1 in games in which they have scored first after their win before 17,066 at San Jose.

“This was a big [win] for us because it came against one of the teams we are battling with [for the playoffs],” Blake said. “Tonight the guys played great and [Jamie] Storr had a big effort for us in net.”

The Kings enter the All-Star break with a two-game winning streak, 19-19-8 record and sixth position in the Western Conference playoff chase.

Storr made 22 saves to win his first game since his shutout season debut victory at Chicago on Dec. 22. Robitaille scored a goal and had two assists and Jozef Stumpel scored a clinching third-period goal for the Kings, who are 2-0 against the Sharks this season.

Ray Ferraro, the hero of the Kings’ 3-2 overtime victory over the Mighty Ducks on Monday, also had a strong game with two assists.

“This a great way for us to go into the break,” King Coach Larry Robinson said. “The guys really worked their tails off out there. . . . We were much more disciplined tonight.”

The Kings, who have struggled because of penalties, had only four for eight minutes against the Sharks.

“That’s the big thing, when you are not sitting and killing penalties all night, it gives you a much better chance,” Robinson said. “Especially on the road.”

After Blake’s goal at 18:07 of the first period, San Jose tied the score at 1-1 on the first of Jeff Friesen’s two goals, 4:20 into the second. Friesen scored on a breakaway from the left circle after taking a nice pass by Marcus Ragnarsson.

The Kings did not take long to take the lead again when Blake scored a power-play goal from 20-feet out at 5:30. Ray Ferraro and Robitaille assisted on Blake’s 10th goal.

“It had been a couple of years since I played,” Blake joked about his first two-goal game since March 15, 1994. “It was a good night for me. The puck was bouncing up to me and when it is happening like that you have to bury your chances. Fortunately tonight, a couple went in.”

Late in the second period, Robitaille put the Kings up by two goals when he knocked in a rebound for the team’s second power-play score at 18:13. Robitaille has five points in his past four games.

“Luc just got a little bit away from the things that he was doing early on in the season,” Robinson said. “The thing that I noticed about him when he first came to [training camp] was how hard he was working. He always was one of the first ones out there and leading all of the rushes. Then things went well for him and he just got a little bit too comfortable. It happens to everybody. He just has to get his work ethic back.”

San Jose appeared to have closed within a goal early in the third period when Owen Nolan deflected in a shot at 2:40. But after video replay review, it was ruled that Nolan’s left skate was in the crease and the Kings maintained a 3-1 lead.

Stumpel was able to the victory when he and Vladimir Tsyplakov hooked up on a two-on-one with Stumpel scoring at 7:43 to give the Kings a three-goal lead.

The Sharks closed to within 4-2 with 11 minutes remaining when Friesen scored on a wraparound, but that was as close as they could get against Storr.

“Jamie was solid, but he has been solid in all of the games he has played in this season,” Robinson said. “I like how he stood up and had such a big presence in the goal.”