SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Because Joe Thornton's mind already

might be wandering to his return to Boston, his cousin took over

the scoring load in yet another victory for the San Jose Sharks.

Scott Thornton scored two goals and Evgeni Nabokov got his first

win in nearly three weeks, leading the Sharks through a scoreless

third period in a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on

Saturday night.

Captain Patrick Marleau also scored for the Sharks, who rallied

from an early 2-0 deficit for their third straight win. Though San

Jose barely held off the injury-depleted Kings, who played without

leading scorer Pavol Demitra, the victory was an important step for

an inconsistent club still hoping for a surge toward playoff

contention.

"This was a big one, because we all know what's facing us in

the standings and on the road trip," said Scott Thornton, who had

the 13th multigoal game of his lengthy career. "The Kings are

probably the best team in the West, so it felt great to get a win

before the stuff that's coming up."

Pacific Division-leading Los Angeles' three-game winning streak

was snapped by the last-place Sharks, who won the final three

contests on a four-game homestand before an East Coast trip that

begins with Joe Thornton's return to Boston on Tuesday night.

Thornton, acquired from the Bruins for Marco Sturm, Brad Stuart

and Wayne Primeau on Dec. 1, had an assist against the Kings to

give him 26 points in 15 superb games with San Jose.

"Joe's just got to stay positive," coach Ron Wilson said.

"I'm sure they'll try to turn it into some soap opera, which it

isn't. ... It'll be hard for Joe, I'm sure. I'm interested to see

the fan reaction, that's for sure. Joe's going to have conflicted

emotions, and hopefully we'll play well around him."

Lubomir Visnovsky and Sean Avery scored for the Kings, who beat

San Jose 4-3 on Dec. 26 to snap a seven-game winless streak against

the Sharks.

San Jose went ahead late in the second period with a set play

from a faceoff leading to Scott Thornton's goal from the top of the

slot. The stoppable shot eluded Mathieu Garon, who made 22 saves.

"They have a great offense, and it showed," Garon said. "They

come hard at you. We knew even with our early lead that it wouldn't

be good enough. They have a great power play unit. We knew coming

in that we couldn't take too many penalties, or that would hurt

us."

Demitra missed his first game this season with an unspecified

leg injury. He leads the club with 20 goals and 50 points, though

Visnovsky passed him for the team lead in assists.

Visnovsky, who had a goal and an assist, is the NHL's

second-leading scorer among defensemen with 43 points, trailing

only Toronto's Bryan McCabe.

Nabokov stopped 27 shots in his first victory since Dec. 20.

Backup Vesa Toskala made San Jose's previous two starts after

Nabokov hit an 0-3-1 slump, but Nabokov was back in form against

the Kings.

"It's been the usual for us to go down 5-on-3 lately, and we

have to be careful, because it's going to cost us," Nabokov said.

"I felt pretty good, but the penalties have to stop."

Normally among the NHL's most disciplined teams, the Sharks took

nine penalties in their loss to the Kings last month, and they were

hit with seven more in the rematch -- but Los Angeles was just

1-of-7 on the power play, scoring only on a two-man advantage in

the first period with Visnovsky's blast from the point.

Just a moment after the second power play ended, Avery batted a

rebound out of the air and past Nabokov for his 10th goal.

"They're a good team, and they're going to play hard, but I

don't think they took control," Kings coach Andy Murray said of

the Sharks. "We didn't sit back all night. We went after them and

played hard. I like our effort."

Scott Thornton pulled the Sharks back within a goal by firing

home the last of multiple rebounds late in the period. Marleau tied

it with his 16th goal of the season on a power play midway through

the second, shooting past Nils Ekman's screen.Game notes
Sharks rookie D Josh Gorges got his first NHL point,

assisting on Thornton's second goal. ... Jonathan Cheechoo had an

assist, but his four-game goal-scoring streak ended. So did Ekman's

five-game points streak. ... Kings C Craig Conroy assisted on

Visnovsky's goal, extending his scoring streak to eight games.