I could sit here and gloat over how the San Jose Sharks were the far superior team in last nights 6-1 beat down of the Los Angeles Kings; how the Sharks now have captured their fourth consecutive Pacific Division Championship and how the last time the Kings won their division was the year before the Sharks joined the NHL, but I won’t. Okay, okay, I’ll leave that to the fans who don’t know when enough is enough.

It wouldn’t take a genius though to figure out that the Sharks dominated the game from the very start. Joe Pavelski continued his point streak to ten games with a goal and assist last night, giving him a career high points (65) and assists (46). It has also been quite the season for Marc-Edouard Vlasic who leads the team in blocked shots with 139, and is third on the team in the +/- with a plus-15. Vlasic was awarded two goals last night, until a review of his second goal confirmed that it belonged to Kyle Wellwood, who walked away with a three point game himself. And if you have been following along, you would know that Sharks Captain Joe Thornton is on the verge of reaching 1000 career points. His two points last night brought him within one of reaching that milestone. Patrick Marleau also ended the night with two assists.

This season in particular with players of such high caliber as Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams, the Los Angeles Kings have taken themselves to a whole new level of playing. Before losing both Kopitar and Williams to injury this season, they collectively have 47 goals (22% of goals scored by LA.) Williams held a eleven game point streak at the start of the season, and had a five point one shortly before going down with a separated shoulder, while Kopitar stacked fourteen games together over three streaks from February 12 through March 15. It’s unfair to not include Dustin Brown in that category, as he leads the Kings in goals (28), hits (283), and is second among the team in +/- (plus-16), but he hasn’t been able to put together a point streak longer then three games since December when he went on a seven game point streak. Truth be had, Los Angeles has always been one of the top competitors in the Pacific Division and have always given the Sharks tough competition.

But if you really take a look at the season series between these two teams, you would see that it’s never really changed over the years. This season in their six meetings, the Sharks went 3-1-2 against their Southern California rival and in 27 meetings since the 2007-08 season, San Jose holds a 15-8-4 record. Not to mention that three of those six games were decided by one goal and two of those one goal games were shootouts with the Kings coming out on top. However, San Jose’s offensive outburst has led them to win 21 of their last 29 games.

Should the Kings and Sharks meet in the playoffs this season, it would mark the first time in either franchises’ history that they’ve faced each other in post season.

• Patrick Kane knows he needs to grow up, as he addresses the media one day after scandalous photos of him and teammates surfaced.  ”For us, obviously, it’s not the way we want to represent the team.” Kane said.  As long as his play remains steady on the ice, I do not see what the big deal is.
• Despite losing by three goals the Blue Jackets held an optional skate with only Mathieu Garon and Milan Jurcina participating.  ”We were going to skate once, so we will skate tomorrow,” said coach Ken Hitchcock.
• The Red Wings win as they actually protect their third period lead.
• Five straight loses now for the Predators as they were simply outplayed by the Red Wings.  Both teams now boast 61 points.  ”We know we’re letting teams back in it,” defenseman Ryan Suter said. “We’ve got to get it turned around now or it will come back to haunt us down the road.”
• With the standings so tight in the Western Conference, the Blues lament their 2-1 record on this recent road trip.  ”Well, in hindsight (the 2-1 trip) looks fine,” coach Davis Payne said. “But the fact that we didn’t get points in Vancouver, to me, is something we’ve got to find a way to improve.“

Northwest

• The Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames face off tonight.  One team has to break their winless streak.
• Terry Frei of The Denver Post writes a nice peice of Matt Duchene and his disappointment in losing a faceoff and a puck battle to veteran Mike Modano.
• The Edmonton Journal renames the Battle of Alberta the Battle of the Biggest Losers.
• Brent Burns wears the concussion-reducing M11 helmet after missing most of the season.  ”I think it’s more making sure I can do everything I can to help prevent another,” said Burns.
• Mason Raymond added a playmaking element to his game making him just that much more dangerous.  “He’s a good player and he could be even better, I think,” said Mikael Samuelsson.

Pacific

• The Ducks found their secret weapon on the shootout: James Wisniewski.  ”I’m riding a hot streak,” said Wisniewski.  ”They’re going with the big Polish righty.”
• Modano scored two goals last night for the first time in two years. “I’ve been feeling much better lately,” Modano said. “I think it’s just a combination of some valuable time off that [coach] Marc [Crawford] has given me, and just being able to rest up and primarily focus on the games.”
• Defenseman Jack Johnson is questionable for tonight’s game, but if this were a playoff game he would play.  ”It’s going to take a few days before I feel good again. Hopefully it feels good sooner than later,” said Johnson.
• Coyotes leading scorer Scottie Upshall will be re-evaluated for a lower-body injury.  Depending on the extent of the injury GM Don Maloney will need to find another offensive weapon. “Number 1, we’re just waiting to see if this is something significant, long term, then we probably have to dial up our search for another offensive player,” Maloney said.
• The Sharks may have more problems on defense as Marc Eduard Vlasic and Dan Boyle could miss tonight’s game. “We don’t anticipate it being serious,” Sharks coach Todd McLellan said.

Alexander Monaghan
NHLHS Editor
amonaghan@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter: @NHLHotStove