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Sports - NHL: Pro Hockey - San Jose Sharks

Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009

Los Angeles Kings (8-4-0) at San Jose Sharks (7-4-1), 10:30 p.m.

- The Sports Network
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Anze Kopitar's quick start has helped vault the Los Angeles Kings to the top of the Pacific Division. They will hope to stay there tonight in a battle with the second-place San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion.

The Kings have strung together their second four-game winning streak of the season, notching their most recent victory on Sunday. Kopitar and Alexander Frolov both scored twice in a 6-2 victory.

Los Angeles has 16 points on the season, one more than San Jose.

Kopitar has notched a point in all but one of the Kings' 12 games this year. He leads the NHL with 21 points off 10 goals and 11 assists and has six goals and five helpers over a current six-game point streak.

"You set your goals pretty high. You want to execute. You want to score goals," said Kopitar, who was named the NHL's First Star for the week on Monday. "When it goes the way it's going for me right now, it's obviously really fun out there."

Frolov added an assist in Sunday's win, Jarret Stoll had a goal and a helper and Jonathan Quick halted 24 shots.

The Kings are expected to be without Justin Williams for a fourth straight game tonight due to a lower-body injury, but he could return on Thursday night versus Vancouver.

Los Angeles' first four-game win streak of the season, from October 6-12, began with a 6-4 home victory over the Sharks, their second in a row against San Jose after losing five straight to the club.

Kopitar had a goal and two assists in the win, giving him eight goals and nine assists in 23 games versus the Sharks, while Quick made 25 saves to improve to 2-0-0 with a 3.50 goals-against average in two starts versus San Jose.

The Sharks, who have won four straight at home over the Kings, have won six of nine since that game and wrapped a six-game road trip 4-2-0 with Sunday's 4-1 victory over Philadelphia.

Manny Malhotra scored twice in the second period, while Dany Heatley and Jed Ortmeyer also lit the lamp. Thomas Greiss made 37 saves to earn his first win of the season.

"First and foremost, it's great to get that win," said Malhotra. "It kind of made our road trip -- 4-2 against a lot of tough opponents, we'll take that. But it's always nice to score."

Patrick Marleau notched two assists to extend his point streak to five games. He has four goals and six assists over the run.

Heatley's first goal in a Sharks uniform came versus the Kings, while Devin Setoguchi scored twice in that game. However, both Setoguchi and Ryan Vesce missed Sunday's game due to leg injuries and are day-to-day.

Evgeni Nabokov allowed four goals on 20 shots before getting pulled early in the early-season meeting with Los Angeles. He went 3-1-0 with a 1.97 GAA in four starts versus the Kings last year and is 22-12-1 with two ties and a 2.10 GAA in his career against them.

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