San Jose goaltender Antti Niemi played well Thursday night but his teammates couldn't get a puck past Los Angeles goaltender Jonathan Quick and the Kings ended up with a 3-0 shutout over the Sharks.
It was the Kings' 13th consecutive home victory and it also gave them a 3-2 lead over San Jose in their best-of-seven playoff series. Niemi stopped 26 of the Kings' 28 shots Thursday and held them goalless until 18:08 of the second period. An early third-period goal and an empty-netter sealed the deal for the defending-champion Kings and leaves the Sharks needing two wins -- the next one in San Jose and then a Game 7 in Los Angeles -- to advance.

Anze Kopitar, who had only one goal in his previous 26 games, broke a goalless game late in the second period for the Los Angeles Kings Thursday night, and it turned out to be the winner in a 3-0 playoff triumph over the San Jose Sharks.
Kopitar's second playoff goal came at 18:08 of the second period. Kopitar, generally recognized as the Kings' most talented offensive player, had complained earlier during this series that his team needed to take more shots at San Jose goalie Antti Niemi; the Kings wound up with 28 in the Thursday win. Slava Voynov pitched in with his fourth playoff goal on a power play early in the third period and Jeff Carter notched his fifth playoff goal in the Sharks' empty net late in the third. It was the Kings' 13th consecutive home victory.

Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings turned aside every shot the San Jose Sharks directed at him Thursday night en route to a 3-0 shutout.
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.

Jonathan Toews was held off the scoresheet for the third straight game Thursday as the Blackhawks were shut out by Detroit by a score of 2-0.
Toews did register three shots on goal and six penalty minutes in the game, but he has totalled only three points, all assists, in nine postseason games this spring. If the Blackhawks are going to come back from their current 3-1 hole in the series their captain will have to be a major contributor.

Corey Crawford turned away 25 of 26 shots Thursday, but was saddled with a loss in a 2-0 defeat at the hands of the Red Wings.
This result was far from being Crawford's fault, but given the three-game slide the Blackhawks are currently suffering through there's a chance we could see Ray Emery between the pipes for Game Five Saturday.