Los Angeles, CA – Jonathan Quick stopped 23 shots, and the Los Angeles Kings edged the San Jose Sharks, 3-2, in the regular season finale for both teams.
The Kings (27-16-5) will start the playoffs and begin defense of their Stanley Cup title on the road against the fourth-seeded St. Louis Blues. LA swept St. Louis in the second round last year.
"Well we know what we're getting, they have some big bodies and they play a heavy game," Kings forward Anze Kopitar said. "We have some big bodies and we're pretty familiar, we've played them enough in the past season so we know what we're getting and they know what they're getting, so it's a matter of getting ready and just go from there."
Kyle Clifford, Justin Williams and Slava Voynov scored for Los Angeles, which won its final seven home games. The Kings haven't lost at Staples Center since March 23 against Vancouver.
T.J. Galiardi and Logan Couture scored for the Sharks (25-16-7), who will be the sixth seed in the Western Conference and will face Vancouver in the first round. Antti Niemi made 24 saves.
"They compete hard, they won the Northwest for a reason. They have a real good team. We have a big challenge on our hands," San Jose forward Joe Thornton said.
Clifford scored 48 seconds into the second period by following up his own shot from the left circle, but the Sharks tied it 49 seconds later on Couture's tally. He split between two defenders and squeezed the puck past Quick.
Voynov's goal came 5:31 into the second when his shot from above the right circle was deflected by a Sharks player into the net.
Williams scored on a pass from behind the net from Brad Richardson with eight minutes to play.
Galiardi's goal came with 2:26 to go from the left circle, but the Sharks were unable to generate decent pressure after pulling Niemi for an extra attacker.
Game Notes
The only power play came from the Kings ... The Kings finished with 39 points at home and an .813 pts pct (best home winning percentage in club history) ... The Kings had zero penalty minutes in a game for the first time since Feb. 19, 1977 against Boston ... Richardson had two assists.
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