[0] KINGS FEAST ON SHARKS, POST BACK-TO-BACK VICTORIES : KINGS 5, SAN JOSE 1.

Byline: Roger Phillips

When the Kings defeated the Coyotes in Phoenix on Monday night, it seemed valid to wonder just how significant the victory had been.

Would the Kings respond in their next game with another solid effort and another victory?

Or would the Phoenix victory merely be a positive blip in a season of negatives?

With a 5-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks before an announced crowd of 10,918 at the Forum on Wednesday night, the Kings provided an affirmative answer to the first question, and avoided having one night's blip become another night's bleep.

The Kings got goals from Matt Johnson (yes, Matt Johnson), Ray Ferraro, Yanic Perreault (on a power play), Glen Murray (shorthanded) and Olli Jokinen. Murray's goal capped an evening of outstanding penalty killing, and Jamie Storr made 31 saves as the Kings (12-21-3) won for the fourth time in their last five games, and for only the fifth time this season at the Forum.

Ron Stern scored the only goal for the Sharks (10-16-8), as the Kings held an opponent to two goals or fewer for the fifth consecutive game.

Despite how dismal the season has been for the Kings, their brief hot streak suddenly has them back in the playoff hunt, which says a thing or two about the mediocre state of the nether reaches of the NHL's 13-team Western Conference.

Wednesday's victory moved the Kings into an 11th-place tie with Calgary, and within one point of 10th-place San Jose, two points of ninth-place Nashville and three points of eighth-place Vancouver, the current occupant of the Western Conference's final playoff position.

It took only 2:28 for the Kings to get on the scoreboard, with Johnson scoring his second goal this season, matching his career high. The 6-foot-5 Johnson parked himself in front of San Jose goalie Mike Vernon, warded off the efforts of 6-2 Sharks defenseman Bob Rouse, and redirected a cross-ice pass from Ian Laperriere to give the Kings the lead.

Before another three minutes elapsed, however, Sean O'Donnell and Laperriere took penalties 28 seconds apart, leaving the Kings two men short for 1:32. But aside from a Joe Murphy shot that hit the post, the Sharks did not threaten, and late in the period, Ferraro padded the Kings' lead.

Rob Blake carried the puck into San Jose's zone and passed it to Donald Audette in front. Audette fed the puck back to Ferraro in the slot, and Ferraro's shot off the pass sailed past Vernon for his fourth goal of the season.

The Sharks drew to within a goal 7:43 into the second period, when the Kings paid for allowing a rare outnumbered rush. Storr stopped two shots by Mike Ricci, but could do nothing about the third shot, by Stern.

But at 13:05, the Sharks' Patrick Marleau took a tripping penalty, and the Kings - unlike so many other times this season - capitalized on the power-play opportunity.

They got lucky, too. Audette, at the left point, attempted to pass the puck down low to Perreault, who was standing to Vernon's right. But Audette's pass deflected off the skate of a San Jose defenseman and onto the stick of Blake, who quickly passed the puck to Audette's intended recipient. Vernon had no chance to get across the crease to make the save, and Perreault fired the puck into a virtually empty net.

Murray sealed the victory midway through the third period with his 15th goal, slipping the puck between Vernon's pads on a breakaway, with Sharks defenseman Jeff Norton in vain pursuit. Jokinen added his fifth goal three minutes later, his first point in more than a month.

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PHOTO The Kings' Glen Murray, left, battles for the puck with the Sharks' Joe Murphy on Wednesday at the Forum.

Mark Terrill/Associated Press