Kings Become Nothing More Than Shark Bait

At least the Kings didn’t tie.

Then again, they gladly would have embraced a fourth consecutive tie by the end of Friday’s lackluster 5-0 loss to the San Jose Sharks.

Patrick Marleau and Jonathan Cheechoo each scored twice and the Sharks never fretted while completing a gradual two-month move from worst to first before an appreciative sell-out crowd of 17,496 in HP Pavilion.

The teams play again tonight at Staples Center, but for now the Sharks have caught the Kings for the Pacific Division lead at 39 points after winning only one of their first 10 games.

One look at the score sheet told it all. Maxim Kuznetsov, minus-four rating. Jaroslav Modry, minus-three. Five other Kings were minus-two.

Not a lot of plusses in the game summary. In fact, there were none for the Kings, shut out for only the third time this season.

One of the Kings’ cornerstones this season -- solid even-strength hockey -- was even undermined. They were fourth in the league with a plus-18 even-strength goal differential before Friday, but four San Jose goals came in even-man situations.

It wasn’t the way the Kings wanted to start a run of five of their next six games against division opponents. It really wasn’t the way they’d want to start anything, period.

“I didn’t really like anybody in our lineup tonight,” Coach Andy Murray said.

The Sharks opened the scoring at 11 minutes 30 seconds of the first period. Kyle McLaren’s shot from the left circle after a faceoff was deflected by Nils Ekman and sailed past Cristobal Huet high to the glove side.

The Sharks took a two-goal lead at 11:57 on a play that started with a miscue by Huet as he tried to play the puck behind the net. Wayne Primeau plucked the puck away from Huet and fed Cheechoo in front before Huet could get back in position.

“I thought I had more time,” Huet said. “It’s my mistake.”

As Huet spoke to the media after the game in a quiet locker room, forward Sean Avery walked by and defended his teammate.

“Why are you talking to him?” Avery said. “It wasn’t his fault tonight.”

Marleau scored twice in a 29-second span near the end of the third period and Huet’s night ended a few minutes later.

Huet, who stopped 15 of 19 shots, was pulled after the second period in favor of Milan Hnilicka, recalled before the game from the Kings’ minor-league affiliate at Manchester (N.H.).

“If I could change 18 other players, I would have done the same thing for the third period,” Murray said. “Unfortunately, they only allow you to dress 20.”

Hnilicka, the backup to Huet while Roman Cechmanek recovers from a left hip injury, stopped six of seven shots in the third period, giving up a power-play goal to Cheechoo with 3:43 left.

In the end, the only stat the Kings liked was the one that could prove useful tonight: The Kings are 5-0 in the second game of back-to-back situations this season.

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Cechmanek was put on the injured reserve list retroactive to Dec. 21. He could play Tuesday against the New York Rangers, if healthy....Right wing John Tripp and defenseman Bryan Muir were recalled from Manchester, but neither played....Forward Martin Straka played for the first time since he and his fiancee had their first child, Agata, Tuesday at Pittsburgh.