LOS ANGELES -- When the Los Angeles Kings knocked the San Jose Sharks out of the playoffs last season in the second round, five of the seven games were decided by one-goal margins. Ricardo Lockette Jersey . It was more of the same Wednesday night in the first meeting of the season between the Pacific Division rivals. Anze Kopitar scored on a power play 2:32 into overtime after setting up Justin Williams tying power play goal with 7:39 left in the third period, and the Kings rallied from behind three times to beat the Sharks 4-3. Drew Doughty and Jarret Stoll also had goals and Jonathan Quick stopped 17 shots, helping the Kings win for the eighth time in 11 games. "They have established themselves as the best team in the Western Conference so far this season," Williams said. "We needed a come-from-behind win, and we got it. It took is (62 1-2) minutes, but eventually we got it done. They were hounding the puck at both ends. It was a battle. There was not a free inch of ice out there, it seems. Theyre a tough team to play." Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture scored for the Sharks, who finished the first month of the season 10-1-2 and set a franchise record for wins in October. Antti Niemi made 19 saves in the finale of a 3-2 road trip. "We would have liked to finish them off and grab the two points," Sharks captain Joe Thornton said. "I thought we played well and probably deserved better." Williams got the equalizer on a pass from Kopitar, beating Niemi high to the glove side after the Sharks were assessed their second bench minors of the game for having too many men on the ice. "When we have the lead we should be able to shut it down," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "Penalties are an issue -- and too many men on the ice is an issue for me. For it to happen twice to the same line and the same individual is unacceptable If you take those situations out of the game, it was a pretty even game." Kopitar got the game-winner on a one-timer from the slot on a pass from Doughty, after Sharks defenceman Justin Braun was sent off for hooking Jeff Carter as he carried the puck to the net. "Its probably the closest you can get to playoff hockey this time of the year," Kopitar said after the Kings played their third game in four nights. "I thought it was a lot of intensity, a lot of hitting. As usual when we play these guys, whoever wins the special teams usually comes out on top." A costly turnover by Kings defenceman Willie Mitchell led to the seventh goal of the season by Couture, putting the Sharks ahead 3-2 during at 18:04 of the second. Kyle Clifford was off for goaltender interference when Jason Demers intercepted Mitchells attempted clearing pass from behind the net, and Couture finished off a perfectly executed tic-tac-toe play with Demers and Patrick Marleau. Pavelski gave the Sharks a 2-1 lead at 11:27 of the first, getting a cross-ice pass from Tommy Wingels and beating Quick to the glove side from short range for his fifth goal after Carter overskated the puck about 10 feet inside the Kings blueline. The Kings tied it at 3:15 of the second when Slava Voynov got the puck from Dustin Brown just inside the blueline and took a slap shot along the ice that Stoll redirected past Niemis stick. It was the second goal in two games for Stoll, following a 12-game dry spell that was the longest season-opening drought of his career. Just 13 seconds after winning the opening faceoff from Kopitar, Couture worked the puck away from him along the right boards in the Kings zone and set up Vlasic in the slot for a one-timer that beat Quick to the stick side from 30 feet. It was the fifth time in the Sharks first 13 games that they scored during the opening minute, but the lead didnt last long. Kopitar checked defenceman Matt Irwin off the puck behind the San Jose net and it ricocheted out to Williams, who set up Doughty for a 40-foot wrist shot that beat Niemi through a screen at 2:32. "The best part for me was the fact they scored a couple seconds in, and we were able to come right back." Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. NOTES: Sutters teams are 9-5-6 with one tie in the regular season and 8-5 in the playoffs against the Sharks since they fired him as coach in December 2002. His Calgary Flames beat them in a six-game Western Conference final series in 2004. ... The Kings are 6-0 in games ending after regulation. ... Kopitars goal was his third in overtime during the regular season and first since Dec. 4, 2010 against Detroit. ... The Kings are 11-0-1 in the last 12 head-to-head meetings with San Jose at home, including the post-season. Jermaine Kearse Womens Jersey . Showing more spark after not taking enough challenging shots on goal in their 1-0 loss Friday night, the Bruins had 18 shots in the first period after managing just 25 in the entire opener. Luke Glendening cut Bostons lead to 2-1 at 13:20 of the second period before Milan Lucic scored late in the second and Zdeno Chara added a power-play goal early in the third. Steven Hauschka Jersey . Westbrook had a triple-double in 21 minutes to win the matchup of talented point guards and help the Oklahoma City Thunder defeat the woeful Philadelphia 76ers 125-92 on Tuesday night.ATLANTA -- Josh Smith was delighted to watch the fourth quarter from the bench. "It was real important," he said. "It just feels good to get some rest and watch them play a little bit." Smith scored 24 points, Jeff Teague added 17 and the Atlanta Hawks beat the woeful Charlotte Bobcats 120-93 on Wednesday night. Joe Johnson finished with 16 points for Atlanta, which had lost three of four. Hawks coach Larry Drew rested all of his starters in the fourth quarter. Rookie Kemba Walker came off the bench to lead Charlotte with 21 points. Gerald Henderson added 15 for the Bobcats, whose NBA-worst record dropped to 7-45. They have lost nine straight. "I was just trying to do whatever I can to help the team," Walker said. "But it wasnt enough." Willie Green scored 17, Marvin Williams had 14 and Jannero Pargo finished with 12 in reserve roles for the Hawks. Charlotte never led after Smiths short hook shot put Atlanta up 17-16 midway through the first. Atlanta pulled away by outscoring the Bobcats 34-19 in the second quarter. Teague split two defenders to covert a three-point play at the 3:35 mark of the second to make it 53-39. Driving from left side of the perimeter, Teague left his feet for a layup, but had his first attempt nearly blocked. He pulled the ball back down, though, and floated toward the baseline to bank in the shot. Smith, who followed with a 20-foot jump shot at the 2-minute mark to give the Hawks a 16-point lead, beat Eduardo Najera for a defensive rebound in the final minute and made a one-handed pass to Johnson at halfcourt. Joe Johnson passed to Ivan Johnson for dunk that made it 59-42. "At halftime, the message was to start the third quarter very aggressively and lets see if we can create some more separation," Drew said. "I thought our guys did that in the third quarter, and I was really happy that we were able to rest those guys in the fourth quarter." D.J. Augustin started for the 39th time in his 41 games despite falling and hurting his left knee in the Bobcats five-point loss Tuesday at TToronto. Cliff Avril Jersey. Augustin, who managed just two points in less than 11 minutes, was already battling tendinitis in his right knee. Coach Paul Silas said before the game that Augustin is still Charlottes starting point guard, though Walker got the nod against Toronto. Walker played 33 minutes against Atlanta, second-most on the team. "They played well," Walker said. "They made all the right plays. They got a big lead on us, and we couldnt come back from it." Hawks centre Zaza Pachulia had a game-high 11 rebounds. Matt Carroll scored 12 points, Derrick Brown had 11 and Reggie Williams 10 for the Bobcats. Silas didnt mask his disappointment in taking another loss in a dreadful season. "Well, its hard," he said. "You have to look at what you have, but losing is still difficult. I dont care what you have or who you have -- injuries or young kids that we have -- its difficult. I hate losing. Ive never lost like this in my life, so its very difficult." For the Hawks, the game went as smoothly as Smith couldve asked. "Its nice to have a bench as deep as we have," Smith said. "Especially because weve had people out." Drew had everyone on his roster available except for starting centre Al Horford (left pectoral surgery) and reserve forward Vladimir Radmanovich (back). Pargo, who returned after missing 10 games with an appendectomy, played 16 minutes. "We kind of got off to a slow start," Pargo said, "but the bench players pretty much did what weve been doing all year, which is come in and just try to lift our team and give us some energy." Notes: Bobcats F Corey Maggette missed his third straight game with a strained right Achilles tendon. He also missed a combined 20 games with strained left hamstring and bruised back. ... Atlanta outscored Charlotte 60-36 in the paint, 36-14 on fastbreaks. ... Charlotte C Byron Mullens, who pulled down a career-best 14 rebounds Tuesday at Toronto, finished with seven rebounds. The third-year centre had 20 points in each of the past two games, but finished with eight. cheap jerseys ' ' '
