NHL

The victory gave the defending-champion Kings a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against San Jose. The Sharks took 24 shots on goal but Quick was sharp and the Kings never were in danger of losing this game on their home ice, where they now have won 13 consecutive games, dating back to March.

"He rode yesterday, rode the bike for a few minutes, and you've got to watch heart rate," coach Darryl Sutter said Thursday. "Then he'll do that again today. It is that protocol. So is that progress? It is if it's good today. He's out at the practice rink this morning. [Reporter: But he's not skating?] No. He's not skating." TSN's Darren Dreger has reported that Stoll suffered head and shoulder injuries after being hit by Raffi Torres.

Stoll has been sidelined with what's likely a head injury after being hit by Raffi Torres. Torres was suspended for his actions. "He's obviously a very good player," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said of Stoll. "The suspension that Raffi had imposed on him also affects us, so we both lost valuable players in this series. Both teams have players that are playing banged up, and the positive thing for both teams is that no one is really making excuses. Whoever you put out there has to play. That's the way it's got to be."

If the Kings go with those lines on Thursday, then this would be a big opportunity for Clifford. The Kings top line has been struggling in the postseason, so perhaps this change will provide them with a spark. That being said, Clifford isn't an known for his scoring abilities, but Williams sees the benefit of him being on their line. "We're obviously starved for goals, and there's a reason for that. Not enough net pressure, not enough traffic, not enough rebounds, not enough going to the net with a purpose. Kyle brings all of those, and if we are to play together tomorrow, we're going to need to do that to get results," Williams said on Wednesday.

Brown skated on the third line with Dwight King and Trevor Lewis. The Kings' first line hasn't been effective in the playoffs and Brown is one of the players that's been struggling. He has just two goals and three points in 10 games, although he also leads the team with 46 hits.

"I think the challenge for us is ' as Darryl would say ' 'starting on time,'" Scuderi said. "I thought they dominated the first. Second period, I thought they dominated the first half. We took the second half, and we dominated the third. When you think about it, it's pretty much an even game, but they buried on their chances." Scuderi added that the Kings didn't learn their lessons from Game 3, so now the series is tied. The good news for the Kings is that the series is moving back to Los Angeles for Game 5.

"Well, I'm sure it's in the rule book," Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. "When the whistle goes, right? So what are they going to come and tell us? They're going to come and say they lost sight of the puck and they blew the whistle." The Kings ended up losing the game 2-1 and now the series is even at 2-2.