REALITY BITES FOR KINGS SHARKS PUT L.A. BACK IN ITS PLACE SAN JOSE 3, KINGS 1.

Byline: RICH HAMMOND Staff Writer

A reality check, dressed in white, teal and black, came knocking on the Kings' door Tuesday night.

The Kings had recorded eight points in their past seven games and raised some hope with a couple impressive victories, so the San Jose Sharks figured to be a perfect barometer for the Kings' progress.

The result shouldn't have surprised anyone. The Kings had their moments but they didn't have Evgeni Nabokov, and the Sharks earned a 3-1 victory in front of an announced 15,204 at Staples Center.

Nabokov, one half of the Sharks' outstanding goaltending duo, made strong saves by the handful and rarely allowed a juicy rebound as he shut down a Kings attack that had 32 shots through two periods.

Steve Bernier had a first-period power-play goal. Joe Pavelski scored in the second period on a breakaway, seconds after he left the penalty box, then scored a power-play goal in the third period.

Lubomir Visnovsky's goal with 9:34 remaining ruined Nabokov's shutout bid.

San Jose has established itself as the second-best team in the Western Conference, if not the entire NHL. Entering Tuesday, the Sharks had the second-best power play in the league, had allowed the fewest goals per game and, most relevantly, had defeated the Kings in two of their three meetings this season.

It's presumed that the Sharks and Ducks are headed toward a showdown in the conference finals, with the Kings left to try to stay a couple steps ahead of last-place Phoenix in the Pacific Division.

With dynamic scorer Jonathan Cheechoo, who missed six games last month with a leg injury, healthy and back in a scoring groove, the Sharks figured to be a handful for the Kings on Tuesday.

And while the Kings have had trouble finding one goalie to consistently stop pucks, the Sharks have two in Nabokov (2.04 goals-against average, .924 save percentage) and Vesa Toskala (2.04, .925).

Coach Ron Wilson could flip a coin to choose between his star goalies.

That's a pipe dream for the Kings.

Nabokov faced consistent pressure and four Kings power plays in the first two periods, but never cracked. His counterpart, the Kings' Dan Cloutier, had a better-than-average game but it wasn't enough.

Cloutier had won two of his past four starts but still allowed 14 goals in that stretch. In order to win Tuesday, he needed some help from the Kings' offense, but it never arrived.

The Kings, seemingly boosted by an early power play, controlled the pace of the game in the opening minutes and held San Jose without a shot for the first six minutes but couldn't capitalize.

Cloutier, plagued by poor starts of late, held up until a San Jose power play 13 minutes into the game. With the Kings' Marty Murray in the penalty box for holding, San Jose's Matt Carle made an innocent-looking dump-in from the neutral zone. The puck, however, came off the backboards with some zip, and slid right in front of the net before Cloutier could get his stick on it.

Bernier alertly broke for the net, got a step on the Kings' Brian Willsie, picked up the loose puck in front of the net and beat Cloutier with a wrist shot for a 1-0 lead with 6:37 remaining in the period.

San Jose took a 2-0 lead 8:54 into the second period thanks to some amazing timing.

Pavelski, in the penalty box for San Jose's too many men on the ice penalty, stepped on the ice and headed straight for the Kings' blue line, where he stood unmarked. Patrick Rissmiller fed Pavelski with a long-range pass and Pavelski skated in alone and beat Cloutier with a wrist shot for a two-goal lead.

Pavelski then scored on a 5-on-3 advantage 4:43 into the third period.

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Photo:

The Kings' Anze Kopitar, right, gets to the net Tuesday against San Jose's Evgeni Nabokov.

Noah Graham/Getty Images