by By DAVID POLLAK MediaNews , Monterey County Herald

Wednesday night the Kings brought a four-game winning streak into HP Pavilion to open the Sharks' brief, two-game homestand. The two teams battled evenly for 65 minutes, but it was the Sharks who emerged with a 2-1 shootout victory when Ryane Clowe sent everybody home with a goal in the sixth round while goalie Evgeni Nabokov stopped Jarrett Stoll.

The shootout was extended to extra rounds when only the Sharks' Dany Heatley and the Kings' Michal Handzus could score in the tie-breaker format.

The Sharks entered the game in a strange position one point behind the Kings in the Pacific Division standings. It has been seven years since Los Angeles finished ahead of San Jose in the Pacific, but the Kings have been serving notice all month that they're tired of being one of the NHL's doormats. Their 8-4-0 record already included a 6-4 triumph over the Sharks on Oct. 6.

"They're not and this is said with ultimate respect for the organization the L.A. Kings of a few years ago," McLellan said after the morning skate.

They certainly were the dominant team in the first period Wednesday night, outshooting the Sharks 12-5. Only the alert play of goalie Evgeni Nabokov kept the game scoreless.

Twice Nabokov stopped Los Angeles center Anze Kopitar the NHL's leading scorer going into the game with 21 points up close. Another time the Sharks goalie got a pad on the puck when Kings right wing Dustin Brown's shot seemed headed for the far corner.

Meanwhile, the Sharks didn't have their first shot until 6:30 of the opening period and never really put much pressure on Kings goalie Jamie Quick in the first 20 minutes of play.

The Sharks did seem to be reversing things in the second period as both Manny Malhotra and Benn Ferriero had good scoring chances, but the Kings ended up being the first on the scoreboard.

With defenseman Dan Boyle trailing him, Los Angeles forward Alexander Frolov carried the puck from behind the net on a wraparound attempt. The puck appeared to be going wide, but it tipped the stick of Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic and ended up sneaking into the far side of the San Jose net at the eight-minute mark.

Patrick Marleau evened the game at 1-1 at 14:32 of the second period when he took an outlet pass from defenseman Douglas Murray, skated into the left faceoff circle and fired a 47-foot slap shot that beat Quick when the Kings goalie couldn't close the gap under his left arm quickly enough.

The goal extended Marleau's current scoring streak to six games, during which he has scored five goals and six assists.

McLellan has been seeking ways to get Clowe on track.

Clowe, who scored 22 goals last season and was rewarded with a new four-year contract, entered the game still looking for his first goal this season. Against the Kings , McLellan played Clowe on a line with Joe Thornton and Heatley.

In part that was because of injuries, but McLellan acknowledged there were other factors.

"Has he earned his way up there or are we putting him up there to get him going?" McLellan said. "A little bit of both."

Through two periods against the Kings , Clowe had registered one shot. Early in the third, the Sharks were in the middle of a line change when he took a pass from Marleau, appeared to have a good chance to score himself, then tried to pass to Manny Malhotra instead. A Kings defender broke up the play.

Clowe, it turned out, was saving his heroics for the shootout.

Sharks 2, Kings 1 ?Friday: vs. Colorado, 7:30 p.m. ?TV/Radio: CSNCA/KFOX (98.5)

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