day." Hes allowed at least two runs in three of his five ap

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Captain Joe Thornton set the tone by dishing out hits almost every chance he got. The rest of his San Jose teammates followed his lead as the Sharks wanted to send a message to the Los Angeles Kings in case these California rivals meet again with much more on the line in a few weeks. Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture scored second-period goals and the Sharks clinched home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs by beating the Kings 2-1 on Thursday night in a possible playoff preview. "I wanted to hit something tonight, thats all. That was the game plan," Thornton said. "Were starting to ramp up our game a little bit. That was just the case tonight. We might see these guys in 12 days or so, so just play hard and see what happens." Thornton matched his career-high with six hits and also nearly got into a fight with Slava Voynov in the second period as part of a physical game between two teams that have serious animosity toward each other. San Jose had a franchise-record 52 hits in all, including 10 by Tommy Wingels, as the Sharks didnt back down a bit against the powerful Kings. "I liked fact that we stood our ground and battled hard," coach Todd McLellan said. "The physical battles, theyre known to win a lot of those. We were in them for the most part." Antti Niemi made 26 saves and the Sharks overcame a first-period deficit to move within a point of Anaheim for first place in the Pacific Division. The Ducks still have two games in hand and the inside track on the top spot. Jordan Nolan scored the lone goal for the Kings, who had their eight-game road losing streak snapped by their first loss away from home since Jan. 28 in Phoenix. Martin Jones made 19 saves as starter Jonathan Quick got rest a night after shutting out the Coyotes to clinch a playoff berth. The Kings are locked into third place in the division after the loss and will play the Sharks in the first round unless San Jose passes Anaheim in the standings. "We play similar styles, its in-your-face hockey and if we do play them in playoffs it would be fun to watch," Nolan said. Of more immediate concern was an upper-body injury that knocked star defenceman Drew Doughty out midway through the first period. Doughty appeared to hurt his left shoulder while checking Tyler Kennedy. There was no word on the extent of Doughtys injury. "Anytime you lose a D-man especially one of his calibre its a big hole," defenceman Jake Muzzin said. "I thought we did well trying to replace him." These teams have met in two of the past three postseasons with San Jose winning a first-round series in six games in 2011 and Los Angeles winning a seven-game, second-round series last spring. The home team has won 16 of the past 17 games in this series, including all seven in last years playoffs. The Kings were the only road team to break through in that stretch with a 1-0 win on Jan. 27. The Sharks took over the play in the second period, scoring twice to take a 2-1 lead. The first goal came just 4 seconds after Kings forward Dustin Brown was sent off for roughing Andrew Desjardins. Thornton won the ensuing faceoff from Jarret Stoll and the puck got back to the point to Brent Burns, whose shot deflected off Pavelski to tie the game. San Jose went ahead a few minutes later when Jones couldnt control a shot by Tommy Wingels and Couture scored his 21st goal on a wraparound. "Thats probably the best weve played in a while, the most physical weve played in a while," Couture said. "Theyre a good team over there, but I felt tonight we were more physical. We played pretty well." The Kings threatened but couldnt tie it in the third as Niemi stopped Anze Kopitar in the final minute to seal it. The Kings got on top early on a double deflection as Alec Martinezs point shot deflected off Jaret Stoll and then Nolan before it beat Niemi less than 4 minutes into the game. The Sharks didnt test Jones much early as most of the opening period was played in San Joses end. Their best chance came when Marty Havlat shot wide on a breakaway. NOTES: Martinez has 15 points in his past 17 games. ... Kings F Dwight King was sideline by an undisclosed injury and D Matt Greene played his 500th game as Willie Mitchell got the night off. ... The Sharks dressed D Scott Hannan in place of Matt Irwin. Nike Clearance Sale Australia . You can listen to the game live on TSN Radio 690 in Montreal or on TSN.ca/Montreal. Also, TSN.ca features live streaming of the post-game news conferences from the Bell Centre. The Rangers grabbed a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference Final after Sundays 3-2 overtime victory against the visiting Habs. Wholesale Nike Shoes Australia . -- Ryan Millers debut for the St. http://www.cheapshoesaustralianike.com/. Marie rink got back in the win column at the Olympic mens curling tournament with a 7-4 win over the host Russian squad on Wednesday. Discount Nike Shoes Online Australia . Minutes after the previously winless Colts got their first win, 27-13 over Tennessee, team vice chairman Bill Polian said the four-time league MVP will not play this season though he has begun throwing to teammates at the team complex. Discount Nike Shoes Australia MINNEAPOLIS -- The Oakland Athletics brought Jim Johnson into their bullpen when they lost All-Star closer Grant Balfour in free agency. Two weeks into the season, Johnson is 0-2 with an 18.90 ERA and one blown save in five appearances for the Athletics. Manager Bob Melvin couldnt afford to wait while the former Orioles closer got into a groove, removing him from that role on Thursday. Melvin will proceed with a closer-by-committee approach. "Theres no timetable," Melvin told As beat writers before the team played their series finale against the Minnesota Twins. "Lets just get him straightened out. And we have plenty of options. Thats the good thing about our team, our versatility. Well play it by ear based on how the games going, whos available on that particular day." Hes allowed at least two runs in three of his five appearances, his seven total runs allowed is tied for the most in the AL among relievers. Hes allowed moore walks and hits than any other reliever in the league.dddddddddddd. Its a far cry from the dominant reliever who saved 50 games for the Orioles last season, tied with Atlantas Craig Kimbrel for the most in the majors. The As were in the market when Balfour, who had 38 saves last year to help Oakland win its second straight AL West title, signed with the Tampa Bay Rays over the winter. Johnson is making $10 million and will be a free agent at the end of this season, but the As can take heart that he has recovered from similar funks before to post solid seasons. Last year, he was charged with three losses and four of his nine total blown saves during a tough six-game stretch in the middle of May. He allowed 12 runs over five innings in that stretch, but posted a 1.52 ERA in his other 69 appearances. Oakland will use Dan Otero, Ryan Cook, Luke Gregorson and Sean Doolittle in save situations, depending on the matchup. ' ' '