Kings Can’t Handle Sharks

The rearview mirror has become a crowded picture for the Kings.

Teams are lurking behind them in the race for the Stanley Cup playoffs, with the San Jose Sharks maybe in the fast lane. That seemed to be the case Monday, when the Sharks handed the Kings a 4-3 loss at HP Pavilion.

Jonathan Cheechoo’s hat trick and Joe Thornton’s three assists gave the Sharks their fifth victory in six games against the Kings, and pulled them to within three points of Edmonton for the final playoff spot.

Craig Conroy, the Kings’ top-line center, looked the part trying to work through why the Sharks have been such a problem this season. With 10 stitches over his left eye, the result of being hit by a puck in the first period, Conroy painfully furrowed his brow and searched for an answer afterward.

“We know they’ve got a good team and they have been able to get the job done against us,” Conroy said. “They forecheck us hard and play us strong. We have to find a way to match it.”

A quiet and somber dressing room underscored that.

Beating the Sharks may become increasingly important. The Kings are in sixth place, but the Sharks closed to within six points of them with the victory. San Jose has played three fewer games.

And the Sharks are set on catching someone.

“We’re right there with [the Mighty Ducks] and Edmonton,” Coach Ron Wilson said. “We have three games left on this homestand and believe we will be in seventh or eight place by the end of it.”

The Sharks continued that climb, overcoming a bad start in which they handed out power plays as if it were their game plan. But the Kings rank 24th on the power play and showed why Monday, going scoreless on seven power plays.

Not only did they fail to score with a man advantage, they generated few scoring opportunities. Coach Andy Murray singled out the Kings’ top line -- Conroy, Jeremy Roenick and Mark Parrish -- who not only didn’t score but were on the ice for one goal.

“We want pucks and bodies to move, and we want pucks to go to the net,” Murray said. “You know we had some guys we put in that situation and they didn’t come through for us.”

In the end, they were left with one silver lining.

“We control our own destiny, we’re aware of that and have talked about that,” said defenseman Mattias Norstrom, the King captain.

To do that, the Kings may need to find a way to control the Sharks’ top players.

Cheechoo and Thornton played prominent parts in Monday’s victory, as they have since the Sharks began to straighten out their season.

The Sharks’ woeful start left them well behind the field through November. They acquired Thornton from Boston on Nov. 30 and have the seventh-best record in the NHL since. Thornton’s three assists Monday pushed him past the New York Rangers’ Jaromir Jagr for the NHL lead with 95 points.

“He has made such a difference in this team,” Wilson said. “He has helped elevate everyone’s play.”

None more than Cheechoo, who has scored 33 goals in 39 games since the trade.

With the Sharks shorthanded, Thornton forced a turnover and Cheechoo chased the puck behind the net, then made a wrap-around attempt that went off goaltender Mathieu Garon’s leg and into the net, tying the score, 1-1, 8 minutes 10 seconds into the second period.

Cheechoo broke the tie three minutes into the third period with a wrist shot off a Thornton centering pass. His third goal came 16 seconds after Joe Corvo had cut the Shark lead to 3-2.