Kings Can’t Find Spirit

The moment was as clear as a picture postcard that underscored the direction two teams were headed.

San Jose center Joe Thornton won the faceoff and pushed forward with the puck, leaving the Kings’ Eric Belanger flat on the ice. A moment later Jonathan Cheechoo nonchalantly shoveled the puck into the net.

That second-period goal was better than a global positioning satellite to locate these teams. The Sharks seemed to be on the road to the playoffs after a 5-0 victory at Staples Center on Thursday. The Kings appeared to be taking an off-ramp.

Cheechoo had two goals, giving him nine in seven games against the Kings this season, and one assist. Thornton had a goal and two assists. Goaltender Vesa Toskala easily handled the paltry 14 shots the Kings sent his way.

That put the Sharks in seventh place in the Western Conference and left the Kings in 10th, four points out of a playoff spot with four games left.

The instant reviews were far from good in a tense King dressing room afterward

“There is no excuse for playing like that,” goaltender Mathieu Garon said. “We played awful. That was a must game for us, a playoff game, and we didn’t show up. There is no excuse.”

The Kings provided enough silver-platter opportunities.

Defenseman Joe Corvo turned the puck over in the neutral zone, where Cheechoo picked it up, then raced up ice and sent a laser past Garon’s glove for a 1-0 lead 3:26 into the game.

Mattias Norstrom fired the puck out the King zone for an icing call with 12 seconds left in the second period. Thornton gave Belanger a lesson in faceoffs, skated forwarded and centered to Cheechoo, who was perched at the crease. His goal with nine seconds left gave the Sharks a 2-0 lead.

“We looked like we were scared to make a play,” Pavol Demitra said. “We couldn’t even make passes.”

The Kings’ frustration boiled over on the ice, with Garon slamming his stick on the net after Thornton batted in the Sharks’ fourth goal midway through the third period.

King fans made their unhappiness clear, some looking up at General Manager Dave Taylor’s box and chanting, “Fire Taylor, fire Taylor.” Fans then booed when the public address announcer gave the attendance figure -- an announced sellout of 18,118.

The fans may get their wish, as Taylor’s job is believed to be on the line after his team made a free-fall descent from first place in the Pacific Division on Jan. 5 to the spot they are in now.

The game carried such importance, yet the Kings came out flat. They had three shots on goal in the first period, matching their season low for one period this season. The Kings seemed to meander through the rest of the game, getting outworked by a Shark team that had played Wednesday night against the Colorado Avalanche.

About the only life the Kings showed while the game was on the line came when Alexander Frolov twice nearly tied the score in the last 40 seconds of the second period.

Frolov first hit the post, then had a point-blank try from the slot snagged by Toskala.

“We can’t play like that,” Demitra said. “It’s the biggest game of the year for us and we looked nervous, like we were scared to play, from the No. 1, from me, down to the last guy on the team. We’re in trouble now.”