Sharks Take a Bite Out of Kings

The San Jose Sharks continued their group therapy and the Kings had to send another player to physical therapy.

Those were elements that made for a 3-2 San Jose victory Saturday at HP Pavilion.

Scott Thornton scored two goals and Evgeni Nabokov made a successful return in net, making 27 saves. The Kings, meanwhile were left with two losses -- the game, after blowing a 2-0 lead in the first-period lead, and leading scorer Pavol Demitra, who did not make the trip because of a deep bruise on his right leg.

Demitra’s absence left the Kings without nine players.

“Those are some big players we have lost,” defenseman Tim Gleason said. “We just have to look to the guys who are here to do the job.”

The more immediate problem, Gleason said, was “it was brutal to let two points get away from us like that. I thought we out-played them.”

Said Coach Andy Murray: “I don’t think about the players who are not here. I’m concerned with the guys who are here and getting ready to play the [Mighty] Ducks. Monday. We have always worked hard.”

The Sharks have had problems to work through. They were thought to be among the elite teams in the Western Conference, yet lost 10 consecutive games at one point, three in overtime.

To shake things up, the Sharks acquired Joe Thornton from Boston in a blockbuster trade. But on Saturday, it was his cousin, Scott Thornton, who made the difference.

With the Kings leading, 2-0, Thornton scooped in a rebound shot to get the Sharks on the scoreboard. After Patrick Marleau tied the score midway though the second period, Thornton buried a shot from the high slot for a 3-2 lead 15:39 into the period.

“We definitely have under-achieved to this point,” forward Jonathan Cheechoo said. “There is no way at the beginning of the year that we thought we’d be in this position. I mean, last season we were second in the Western Conference.”

That may only serve to show just how long ago “last season” was in real time. The Sharks, post-lockout, have gone from Western Conference finalists to 12th place.

The most glaring problem has been in goal, where Nabokov has struggled. He had a 1-4-1 record in his last six starts, and was pulled in his last start. Vesa Toskala started the last two games, both Shark victories.

That led Coach Ron Wilson to declare that, “there is no goalie controversy. Nabbie is our No. 1 guy.”

Nabokov looked more like one Saturday. He gave up first-period goals to Lubomir Visnovsky and Sean Avery, then closed the Shark net to King business.

“We just need to find some consistency to get better,” Cheechoo said.

The Kings just need to get better, health-wise.

While they have the second most points in the conference, their injury list may have reached a crisis stage. Demitra, who has 20 goals and 50 points, injured his leg Thursday in a victory over Phoenix.

Desperate times call for desperate measures and Avery took Demitra’s spot on the top line, with Craig Conroy and Alexander Frolov. That announcement brought a few good-natured snickers from his teammates.

“They were probably worried that I’d score more goals than they will tonight,” Avery said after the morning skate Saturday.

He went out and backed up those words.

Nabokov stopped a hard Visnovsky shot, with the puck tumbling into the air. Avery swatted at and missed, but managed to scoop in the puck when it hit the ice for his 10th goal, a single-season high.

“I should have been there two months ago,” Avery joked. “I’ve been playing the best.”

The goal, which came less than a minute after Visnovsky scored on the power play, gave the Kings a 2-0 lead 11:11 into the first period.