News » The Los Angeles Kings are finally playing

the way many expected this season Anders Lee Jersey , and they’ll bring a season-long four-game winning streak into their matchup against the visiting Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday at Staples Center.The Kings defeated the Golden Knights 4-3 in overtime on Sunday and return to Las Vegas again Tuesday for the fourth and final meeting between these teams this season. Los Angeles also beat visiting Vegas 5-1 on Dec. 8.“We’re trying to just take it one game at a time, quite honestly,” Kings forward Dustin Brown said after scoring the go-ahead goal in a 2-1 win Thursday night against the visiting Arizona Coyotes. “We put ourselves in a pretty big hole.”Article continues below ...The Kings (15-20-3) were 4-8-1 when they fired coach John Stevens on Nov. 4, and just 5-8 in the first 13 games under Willie Desjardins. They won three games in a row for the first time this season when they defeated the Golden Knights last weekend.The Pacific Division is a lot tighter among the top teams in the standings than it was last season, leaving the Kings just eight points behind the final playoff spot heading into Friday. Brown, one of a handful of core players for the Kings who won Stanley Cup titles in 2012 and 2014, said it’s too early to start thinking about playoff positioning.“I think it’s more important for our group, especially the young guys on our team Andrew Ladd Jersey , to understand how we need to play to win,” Brown said. “We didn’t do it for a big stretch of games early. I think we have played better. I thought (Thursday) was not our best game. It’s more important that we start to learn. We have a lot of new guys with not a lot of experience of what it takes to win at this level.”Vegas (21-15-4) reached the Stanley Cup Finals in their first year of existence last season. The Golden Knights haven’t been as hot through the first half as they were last season, when they accumulated 58 points (28-10-2) through the first 40 games.Vegas made one of the biggest offseason acquisitions in the NHL when they traded for left wing Max Pacioretty, a five-time 30-goal scorer with the Montreal Canadiens. Pacioretty had 10 goals in 30 games with Vegas but sustained a lower-body injury against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Dec. 17 and has missed the past four games.Pacioretty is eligible to come off injured reserve against the Kings, but the Golden Knights may not rush him back, especially with how his replacement on the second line, Brandon Pirri, has been playing lately.Pirri has four goals and an assist in five games in December. He was called up from the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League for the second time this month on Thursday and scored the game-winner midway through the third period of a 2-1 win against the visiting Colorado Avalanche.“If I’m going to contribute Anthony Beauvillier Jersey , it’s going to be scoring goals,” Pirri told reporters afterward. “My confidence never wavered. I always believed in myself. This is just another opportunity to prove myself.” CALGARY, Alberta (AP) It took Evander Kane until his 565th game to get his first NHL hat trick.Then he added another goal for good measure.Kane scored four times to lead the San Jose Sharks past the Calgary Flames 7-4 on Friday night, a huge performance by a player who was acquired at the Feb. 26 trade deadline.”It’s nice to get that monkey off my back,” said Kane, sent from Buffalo to San Jose for forward Danny O’Regan and draft picks. ”It’s been a long time since I’ve scored a hat trick. That was great. It made it even better, obviously, in a big game Authentic Brock Nelson Jersey , an important game.”Tomas Hertl had a goal and an assist for the Sharks, who have won three straight and four of five. Kevin Lebanc and Eric Fehr also scored, and Martin Jones made 30 saves.San Jose is second in the Pacific Division, three points in front of Los Angeles and Anaheim.Joe Pavelski, who set up Kane’s fourth goal 62 seconds into the third period, was happy to see his new teammate come through in the clutch.”It’s always a special night when someone can score three, and for him to get that fourth is pretty cool to see,” Pavelski said. ”He’s definitely made a huge impact on us as a team and on his teammates. He’s been one of the guys driving the bus here for the last week or two. He came through big for us tonight.”Micheal Ferland had a goal and an assist for the Flames Cal Clutterbuck Jersey , who are four points out of a playoff spot. Troy Brouwer, Mark Jankowski and Johnny Gaudreau also scored for Calgary.”We had a few leads in the second and those are times when you want to put your foot on the pedal and get the next one,” forward Mark Stajan said. ”We weren’t able to do that.”Three nights after stopping all 28 shots he faced against the Oilers, Calgary goalie Mike Smith had a rough outing as he made just 14 saves before being replaced by David Rittich early in the third period. Rittich went on to stop all seven shots he faced in a relief appearance.”Terrible,” Smith said when asked to describe his performance. ”It was one of those nights where pucks were hitting things, going in. A couple bad breaks there. It was definitely an off night and a tough one to swallow right now.”The Sharks opened the scoring six minutes into the first period when Kane’s wrist shot beat Smith to the glove side.The Flames pulled even at 16:42 when Brouwer chipped a pass from Curtis Lazar into the top corner behind Jones.Jankowski took a pass from linemate Garnet Hathaway and wired a shot to the top corner, glove side behind Jones to put Calgary up 2-1 at 2:10 of the second.Kane then redirected Brenden Dillon’s point shot past Smith at 6:29 before Gaudreau cut into the slot and snapped a shot past Jones at 10:16 to put Calgary back up by a goal.That lead lasted just 1:26 as Lebanc fired a shot from a sharp angle into the top corner past Smith to pull the Sharks into a 3-all tie.Kane completed his hat trick at 16:32 when he swatted in his own rebound. Hertl poked the puck through Smith’s legs with 1:58 remaining before the second intermission.”I thought we had some good energy, especially after Johnny scored there Eric Tangradi Jersey Womens ,” said Calgary captain Mark Giordano, who was disappointed the Flames weren’t able to hold the lead. ”We didn’t do a good job of stopping them. They came in pretty easy there and got the puck in our net.”The Sharks added an insurance goal when Kane redirected a pass from Pavelski past Smith.Ferland backhanded a shot past Jones to pull Calgary within two goals with 5:35 left in regulation and Rittich on the bench for an extra attacker. Fehr rounded out the scoring with an empty-net goal 1:37 later.NOTES: Jankowski suited up for the Flames after sitting out Tuesday’s 1-0 win over Edmonton. Fellow forward Kris Versteeg returned to Calgary’s lineup after missing the past 49 games with a hip injury. … Gaudreau extended his point streak to six games (three goals, five assists).UP NEXTSharks: At the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.Flames: At the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday.—