KINGS HOLD OFF SAN JOSE BELANGER STEPS UP IN CRITICAL FACEOFFS; LOS ANGELES GOES 4-1 ON ROAD TRIP KINGS 3, SAN JOSE 2.

Byline: Matt McHale Staff Writer

SAN JOSE - Owen Nolan's breath was bad and his mood was worse.

Eric Belanger knew both of those things as he stepped in for a couple of critical faceoffs against San Jose's All-Star center in the final 45 seconds Saturday afternoon.

Belanger also knew that his success in the next few moments could be the difference in the Kings' 3-2 victory and the lasting memory of their five-game trip.

``Tough guy, for sure,'' Belanger said of Nolan, who will start for North America in two weeks at the All-Star game at Staples Center. ``But I have confidence in what I can do. I am good at faceoffs and I thought I could get the job done.''

Belanger won both, helped clear the puck and ended a frenzied surge by the first-place Sharks, who scored twice midway through the third period and battered Felix Potvin with 18 shots in the final 20 minutes.

``That was huge,'' captain Mattias Norstrom said. ``Eric winning those faceoffs in our end made the difference between a good trip and a really good trip. We needed to go home on a high note.''

The Kings finished their swing against some of the league's toughest teams with a 4-1 record. But until Belanger beat Nolan, nothing was certain.

The Sharks cut into a 3-0 lead with goals by Bryan Marchment and Mike Ricci just 1 minute, 25 seconds apart. Last year, Ricci beat the Kings in overtime and Saturday's game appeared to be headed that way.

``But we were patient,'' defenseman Mathieu Schneider said. ``We didn't panic when they scored. We are a tired team, but we're resilient. We got big plays when we needed them.''

Besides Belanger, Potvin's work down the stretch was inspired. Sharks winger Marco Sturm had four of his eight shots in the third, just one fewer than all the Kings.

The Kings (19-17-7-2) won the first three games of the trip, then were routed in Boston on Thursday during Jason Allison's homecoming game.

On Friday morning, the Kings flew to the West Coast, stopping in Omaha, Neb., to refuel. They practiced upon arrival to adjust to the new time zone, but coach Andy Murray wasn't sure if his players received the proper wake-up call.

``We laid into them pretty good before the game,'' Murray said. ``They had done so much good on the trip, but we can't afford a letdown.''

The Kings took advantage of first-period San Jose penalties to score twice on their league-leading power play.

They expected the Sharks to come out with a physical style and weren't surprised when Nolan was whistled for elbowing Ziggy Palffy just 36 seconds into the game.

Defenseman Jaroslav Modry took advantage, banging home a rebound past Sharks goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff.

At 11:18 of the first, Craig Johnson made it 2-0 on a pass in front from Palffy, This time Ricci was off for holding a stick.

San Jose (22-13-6-3) was out of sync for the first two periods, failing to capitalize when the Kings went the first 17 minutes of the second period without a shot.

When Palffy scored with 1:14 left in the period, it looked like the Kings would cruise home.

But the Kings' defense bogged down. Marchment scored his first of the year, then Ricci found a loose puck in the slot and flipped it over Potvin to make it a one-goal game.

``The momentum had changed,'' Belanger said. ``But we knew with the Cat (Potvin), we could hold on.''

Nothing was clear until the end. The Sharks pulled their goaltender for a sixth attacker. Vincent Damphousse and Teemu Selanne, the other Sharks starters at the All-Star game, were all on the ice.

Murray had the Belanger line in the game. Belanger won the first faceoff with 45 seconds left. Ten seconds later he won the second.

``People sometimes overlook the faceoffs,'' linemate Mikko Eloranta said. ``Tonight, it helped us win a game.''

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Photo:

The Kings' Jaroslav Modry (44) scores past San Jose goalie Miikka Kiprusoff during a first-period power play.

Chris Preovolos/Associated Press