Gameday 88 (Tue, 16 Apr) - Results

Florida v NY Islanders 2-5 - Michael Grabner scored twice and Mark Streit had a goal and an assist as the Islanders chased Jacob Markstrom and cruised to a 5-2 victory in their regular-season finale at a raucous Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. There's a good chance this old barn on Hempstead Turnpike will host at least a couple of more games this spring, as New York (22-16-5) remains in seventh place in the Eastern Conference and is closing in on its first appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2007. Matt Moulson and Radek Martinek also scored for the Islanders, who are 14-5-3 since March 1 and begin their crucial season-ending five-game road trip Thursday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Isles are 12-5-2 on the road this season. As for the 15,922 who were in attendance Tuesday, they certainly don't want this to be their team's last home game until October. Chants of "We want playoffs" rained down several times, and the players heard the message loud and clear. Florida (13-23-6) suffered its third straight loss. Dmitry Kulikov and Marcel Goc scored for the Panthers, who are dead last in the League standings with 32 points. Their swing through the metropolitan area continues Thursday against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. The Islanders broke a scoreless tie 8:01 into the game on Moulson's 14th goal of the season. Shortly after New York killed a holding penalty on Josh Bailey, Moulson was able to park himself in front of the net, where Thomas Hickey's shot hit Matt Martin's stick and Moulson's knee before going past Markstrom to give the Isles a 1-0 lead. Florida would pay dearly as Erik Gudbranson's was assessed a double minor for high-sticking Moulson at 12:55 of the first, just 44 seconds after Tyson Strachan was penalized for cross-checking Colin McDonald. New York capitalized on the two-man advantage when Streit made it 2-0 with 6:01 left by one-timing Kyle Okposo's feed from the right point past Markstrom for his sixth goal of the season. New York struck again with Gudbranson still in the box when Grabner tallied his 14th goal at 16:47. Andrew MacDonald's home-run pass from deep in the Isles' zone landed right on Grabner's tape just outside the Panthers' blue line, and the speedy winger skated in alone on Markstrom and fired home a wrister to make it 3-0. Nabokov also earned an assist on the tally, his fourth of the season. Florida got on the board via the power play with 1:48 to go in the first. With Casey Cizikas in the box, Kulikov took a pass from Tomas Fleischmann and ripped a wrist shot from the slot past Nabokov (26 saves) to trim New York's lead to 3-1. But the Isles wouldn't allow the Panthers to carry any momentum into the second, as Martinek and Grabner scored 14 seconds apart to build a four-goal cushion. Martinek made it 4-1 when he ripped Jesse Joensuu's feed past Markstrom from the right point at 3:19 before Grabner ended Markstrom's night when he picked off Brian Campbell's pass and let go a backhand shot over the Panthers' goaltender at 3:33. It was exactly the response the Islanders had to have after Kulikov's tally late in the first, the type of response that perhaps had been missing over the past couple of seasons. While the boisterous crowd chanted, "We want playoffs!" after Grabner's second goal, Dineen opted to replace Markstrom with veteran Scott Clemmensen. Markstrom allowed five goals on 18 shots. Goc cut New York's lead to 5-2 at 7:44 of the second, as Nabokov came out to challenge a shot but lost his balance in front of the net, allowing Goc to easily tap Tomas Kopecky's feed into an empty net for his sixth goal of the season. Cizikas suffered an upper-body injury blocking a shot in the second period and did not return, but Capuano couldn't elaborate after the game. Bailey also was seen limping off the ice at the end of the game, but the severity of his injury is unknown. Florida was forced to play without forward Peter Mueller, who left right before the game to be with his wife, who was set to give birth to the couple's first child. Strachan suffered an upper-body injury in the second period and did not return.

Toronto v Washington 1-5 - The Washington Capitals moved closer to a Stanley Cup Playoff berth and made sure the Toronto Maple Leafs couldn't clinch one. Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL-leading 28th goal, and Martin Erat scored his first since being acquired at the trade deadline as the Capitals cruised to their eighth consecutive victory by defeating the Maple Leafs 5-1 at Verizon Center on Tuesday. Though the Capitals are on their best hot streak in more than two years, coach Adam Oates wants to make sure his players don't get caught up in it. Jack Hillen, Troy Brouwer and Marcus Johansson also scored for the Capitals (24-17-2), who stayed four points ahead of the Winnipeg Jets in the race for first place in the Southeast Division. Braden Holtby made 29 saves. The Capitals visit the Ottawa Senators on Thursday and the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday. Mikhail Grabovski had the goal for Toronto (24-14-5), which came to Washington after Monday night's 2-0 home victory against the New Jersey Devils and remains fifth in the Eastern Conference with 53 points. The Maple Leafs could have clinched their first playoff berth since 2004 with a victory and a loss by the Jets. But Washington never let Toronto get started. The Capitals dominated the first period, outshooting the Maple Leafs 14-8, outhitting them 12-4 and opening the scoring at 14:27 when Hillen's shot from the left point hit the stick of Toronto forward Nazem Kadri and went past Ben Scrivens. It was Hillen's third goal of the season. Erat, acquired from the Nashville Predators 13 days ago, made it 2-0 at 5:03 of the second period when he got his stick on a left-circle blast by Ovechkin and deflected it into the net. Brouwer added his 17th of the season at 7:55 when John Carlson's pass put him behind the defense and he made a deke before backhanding the puck through Scrivens' legs. Ovechkin's one-timer from a step inside the top of the left circle beat Scrivens at 13:59 for a power-play goal, the first allowed by Toronto in 27 chances. It was his 18th goal in 16 games. Grabovski's deflection of Ryan Hamilton's shot beat Holtby 3:05 into the third, but Johansson picked the carom of Mike Green's shot off the end boards and beat Scrivens at 10:58 for another power-play goal. Unlike Saturday night, when the Capitals blew a 5-1 lead before winning 6-5 in overtime against the Tampa Bay Lightning, they didn't relax after taking a four-goal lead into the dressing room through 40 minutes.

Carolina v Ottawa 2-3 - It wasn't their prettiest victory of the season, but the Ottawa Senators moved two points closer to a playoff berth Tuesday night by holding off the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 at Scotiabank Place. Carolina, which trailed 2-0 and 3-1, made it close when Eric Staal scored during a 5-on-3 power play goal with 4:30 left in regulation, but the Senators were able to hold on. Justin Faulk also scored for the Hurricanes (17-23-2) while Mika Zibanejad, Milan Michalek and Chris Neil had goals for the Senators (22-14-6). Craig Anderson made 32 saves for his second win since returning from his ankle injury. Justin Peters turned away 31 of 34 shots. The win gives Ottawa 50 points and keeps the Senators in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, one point ahead of the New York Islanders. Ottawa trails the fifth-place Toronto Maple Leafs by three points. Tuesday marked the return of defenseman Jared Cowen, who made his season debut after requiring surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip in November. Cowen quickly made his presence felt when he leveled Jeff Skinner with a huge hit at center ice 13 minutes into the game. Skinner lay on the ice holding his head; he managed to leave under his own power but did not return. Chad LaRose took exception and instigated a fight with Cowen, earning an extra two minutes and a 10-minute misconduct in the process. It was one of five scraps between the teams. Cowen, who also exchanged punches with Kevin Westgarth in the second period, finished the game with two fights, four hits and 16:45 minutes of ice time. After pressing for several minutes, the Senators went ahead with 2:38 left in the first period. Cory Conacher skated the puck around the net and passed out front to Zibanejad, who rifled the shot past Peters' glove for his seventh of the season. The goal ended a 14-game drought for the Swedish rookie, who had not scored since March 13. Ottawa made it 2-0 six minutes into the second period when Michalek pulled off a toe-drag of the puck around Jamie McBain in the left circle and snapped a high shot past Peters. Michalek has two goals in the past two games since returning from his knee injury. Carolina managed to get on the board four minutes later, when a wrist shot by Faulk in the high slot hit Anderson's glove and dribbled into the net at 10:00. Eric Staal had an assist on the goal, giving him assists in four consecutive games. The Senators regained a two-goal lead at 12:12 after a turnover by McBain was picked up by Guillaume Latendresse. He into the Hurricanes' zone and fed a pass that Neil tipped past Peters for his first goal since Feb. 5. Anderson preserved the lead with a pair of tremendous saves near the 15-minute mark. He used his left pad to stop a point-blank blast by Jordan Staal, then stacked his pads and used his glove to stop defenseman Joe Corvo from just to the left of the net.

NY Rangers v Philadelphia 2-4 - Jakub Voracek and Steve Mason made their NHL debuts during the 2008-09 season with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and Voracek had a front-row seat as Mason backstopped them to the franchise's lone trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs and won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's best rookie. Teammates again with the Philadelphia Flyers, Voracek said he saw a bit of that same Mason on Tuesday when the Flyers survived a furious third-period push by the visiting New York Rangers to skate away with a 4-2 victory. Mason stopped 38 of 40 shots in his first home start since being acquired at the NHL Trade Deadline, and Philadelphia was able to win for the second time in as many nights to keep its playoff hopes alive. The Flyers moved within five points of the eighth-place Rangers with five games left in season. But Philadelphia wouldn't be there without outstanding play by Mason, who made 16 saves in the third period, including five on a New York power play, as the Rangers outshot the Flyers 17-4 in the final 20 minutes. Mason made a number of those saves after his legs began cramping. He needed help from the Flyers training staff with 7:23 left in the period. Kimmo Timonen had a goal and an assist to lead the Flyers' offense, and Voracek, Brayden Schenn and Erik Gustafsson each had a goal. Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan scored for the Rangers, and Henrik Lundqvist made 18 saves on 21 shots. The Rangers went 0-for-5 on the power play, and despite their big push in the third, only were able to get Stepan's goal. Mason has been working with goalie coach Jeff Reese to solve some of the issues that plagued him in the three-plus seasons with the Blue Jackets prior to his trade to the Flyers. Reese previously said his goal was to rebuild Mason's confidence as well as his mechanics, and on both fronts it appears he's off to a good start. In four games with the Flyers, Mason is 1-2-0 but has a 1.82 goals-against average and .941 save percentage. The Flyers took a 2-0 lead after one period on goals by Schenn and Gustafsson. Brandon Manning, making his NHL season debut, tried to one-time a Danny Briere pass from just above the faceoff circles inside the Rangers zone, but the shot was partially blocked by the Rangers' Derick Brassard. The loose puck bounced to Schenn in the low slot, just to the right of the New York net, and Schenn scored over Lundqvist's blocker for his eighth of the season at 9:28. The assist was Manning's first NHL point. He was recalled Tuesday and inserted into the lineup to replace injured Kent Huskins and Bruno Gervais. Manning did not have a point in four games with the Flyers last season. Gustafsson made it 2-0 late in the period when he one-timed a Sean Couturier cross-ice feed past Lundqvist with 2:39 left. The Rangers got on the board early in the second period on Zuccarello's first NHL goal in more than a year. He received a long, cross-ice pass from John Moore at the Flyers blue line right in front of the Rangers bench. He skated down the right side and snapped a wrist shot between the skates of rookie defenseman Oliver Lauridsen that beat Mason to the stick side at 2:54. Zuccarello, who spent most of the season playing in Russia and was skating in his ninth NHL game, had last scored March 19, 2012. Timonen's power-play goal, at 10:00 of the second, became the game-winner. Claude Giroux beat Brad Richards on a faceoff from the left circle in the New York end. The puck rolled back to Timonen, who one-timed a low shot from the high slot past Lundqvist for the veteran blueliner's fifth goal of the season. Stepan cut the Rangers' deficit to 3-2 at 7:28 of the third. Ryan Callahan skated through the middle of the Flyers zone and tried to fire a shot, but Kurtis Foster blocked it. The loose puck bounced to Stepan, who lifted a shot through traffic over Mason's shoulder for his 15th of the season. Voracek closed the scoring into an empty net, his career-best 19th goal, with 13.8 seconds left.

Tampa Bay v Winnipeg 3-4 - A four-day layoff allowed the Winnipeg Jets to heal some of the bumps and bruises they acquired during their first 42 games, but the out-of-town scoreboard did coach Claude Noel's club no favors during the respite. A home date Tuesday night with the Tampa Bay Lightning finally allowed the Jets an opportunity to elbow their way back into the Eastern Conference playoff race in their bid for the franchise's first visit to the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2007. After wasting a two-goal third-period lead, Mike Santorelli and captain Andrew Ladd struck for the Jets in the shootout to allow Winnipeg to escape with a 4-3 victory, their season-high fourth straight win and fourth victory in their current six-game homestand. Santorelli raced in and zipped a quick wrist shot through the pads of goaltender Ben Bishop. Ladd's shot went through the same opening, though Bishop got a piece of it, to end the game. The victory gave the ninth-place Jets 46 points, tying them with the eighth-place New York Rangers, who lost 4-2 to the Philadelphia Flyers but still have a game in hand. The sixth-place Ottawa Senators (50 points) and seventh-place New York Islanders (49) both won their games, as did the Washington Capitals, who maintained their four-point lead over the Jets in the race for first place in the Southeast Division. Winnipeg has two paths to the playoffs over its final five games. Overtaking the Capitals for control of the Southeast Division would earn the Jets home-ice advantage in the first round. Alternatively, the Jets could pass the Senators, Islanders or Rangers and make the top eight in the Eastern Conference. The Jets will wrap up their homestand this week with a visit from the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday and what is shaping up to be a crucial Saturday matinee with the Islanders. Despite the third-period breakdown for the Jets, Winnipeg's current predicament meant that Noel did not quibble much with how his club captured two badly needed points. Winnipeg's first line built a two-goal lead in the second period. Blake Wheeler danced past two defenders in the slot before popping a shot past Bishop and under the crossbar at 8:37, breaking a 1-1 tie. Ladd followed with a power-play tally at 17:54, his second goal of the game, to take the team lead in goals with 18. Ladd also owns a five-game point streak. But the Lightning, who led the League with 59 third-period goals, entering the game, refused to roll over. Pierre-Cedric Labrie nudged a loose puck past Winnipeg goaltender Ondrej Pavelec 5:19 into the third period to make it 3-2. Steven Stamkos followed with his 27th of the season on a high blast from the right circle that beat Pavelec at 11:17 to force overtime. Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis scored a first-period goal. Bishop returned to the Tampa Bay net one day after signing a two-year contract extension that the Lightning hope will help stabilize their goaltending picture and made 33 saves. The Lightning remain eight points out of a playoff spot with five games to play and are now winless in four games. But the third-period rally offered them an opportunity to continue working on a foundation for next season and establish a model under their new coach. Pavelec, making his 38th start and 19th in the Jets' past 20 games, stopped 24 shots. Wheeler's three-point night marked a season-high for the Jets' second-leading scorer. Winnipeg pounced on the Lightning early, scoring on its second shot 1:23 into the game. Ladd stepped into the high slot and placed a low shot through Bishop's pads. But Tampa Bay made it 1-1 at 10:27 when Teddy Purcell grabbed an errant pass and got it to St. Louis, who wheeled a shot from the left circle that beat Pavelec. After Wheeler's goal, Winnipeg used its nearly dormant power play to put the Lighting into a two-goal hole. Vincent Lecavalier pulled down Winnipeg's Olli Jokinen on a scoring opportunity late in the second period. Winnipeg's sputtering power play, which ranked 28th in the League before facing Tampa Bay, had produced one goal on 21 chances over the club's past eight games. But with two seconds left on Lecavalier's minor, Ladd sped into the left circle and snapped a high, hard shot past Bishop's glove. Ladd's goal marked the first time since March 24-26 that the Jets had scored power-play goals in consecutive games.

Vancouver v St Louis 1-2 - Ken Hitchcock became the 11th coach in NHL history and second active (Joel Quenneville is the other) to reach 600 victories. Along with Hitchcock, six of them have coached the Blues at one point, Scotty Bowman, Al Arbour, Jacques Martin, Quenneville and Mike Keenan. Hitchcock remembers his first win just as well. It was Jan. 22, 1996, with the Dallas Stars, who, ironically, beat the Canucks 6-4 in Vancouver. The losing goaltender that night was Corey Hirsch, now Hitchcock's goalie coast. The Blues (24-16-2) got the winner on Alexander Steen's shootout goal, which provided the winning margin at Scottrade Center. Steen was the third and final shooter for the Blues, who got a goal from Andy McDonald in the first round. Steen snapped a shot upstairs to beat Cory Schneider. Derek Roy hit the post for the Canucks, and Brian Elliott stopped Alexandre Burrows in the second round. Jay Bouwmeester scored his first goal with the Blues and Elliott stopped 21 shots. St. Louis improved to 24-16-2, good for 50 points and seventh place in the Western Conference. Alexander Edler scored for the Canucks, and Schneider was stellar in stopping 35 shots. The Canucks (24-12-7) had won five of six games and are 5-1-1 in their past seven but just completed three games in four nights. The Blues outshot the Canucks 14-5 in the first period, but as they did in Sunday's 2-0 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, they had a spirited first 20 minutes but nothing to show for it. Schneider was the difference in keeping the home side of the scoreboard. The Blues dominated all aspects of play in the second period as well, outshooting the Canucks 11-6, but Edler was able to give the visitors a 1-0 lead when he snapped a wrister from the right point with Daniel Sedin screening in front; the puck caromed off the left post and past Elliott with 12.2 seconds left in the period. The Blues were given four power-play attempts through two periods, but their inability to convert again haunted the offense. The Blues are 6-for-76 in their past 28 games. The last time they scored more than one power-play goal in a game was Feb. 15 at the Calgary Flames. Since scoring on their first shot 1:26 into the game Friday against the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Blues went 92 shots without a goal before Bouwmeester's. It snapped a drought of 169:24. In the defenseman's eighth game for St. Louis, he took David Perron's flip pass into the zone, went in on a 3-on-1 with Alex Pietrangelo and Andy McDonald, and instead of dishing off, beat Schneider from close-in 10:50 into the third period to tie the game 1-1. Once the Blues got it squared away, they felt good about their chances of getting the two points. If they somehow came away without the two points, it would have been an empty feeling.

Minnesota v Edmonton 5-3 - A trip to Alberta was just what the Minnesota Wild needed to revive their quest for a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Wild visited Rexall Place and torched the fading Edmonton Oilers 5-3 on Tuesday. Five players scored a goal, and Niklas Backstrom had to make 16 saves. One night after ending a three-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory against the Calgary Flames, the Wild won consecutive games for the first time since March 25-27. Former Oiler Kyle Brodziak scored twice for the Wild (24-16-3), who remained in sixth place in the Western Conference. They are one point ahead of the St. Louis Blues, who have played one fewer game. The two-goal game was the first for Brodziak since Dec. 10, 2011. The Oilers, who got a first-period goal by Nail Yakupov and third-period goals by Shawn Horcoff and Magnus Paajarvi, lost their sixth consecutive game and their first since firing general manager Steve Tambellini on Monday and replacing him with Craig MacTavish. With 39 points, their playoff hopes are all but gone. Minnesota opened the scoring 1:01 into the game when Brodziak beat Devan Dubnyk for an unassisted goal. Yakupov, the first player taken in the 2012 NHL Draft, tied it at 15:17 when he picked up a deflected puck and beat Backstrom with a bad-angle shot from the lower left circle. The Wild took command in the second period. Charlie Coyle put Minnesota in front to stay at 2:56 when his deflection of Clayton Stoner's point shot beat Dubnyk, and Mikael Granlund bumped the lead to 3-1 at 6:23 when Torrey Mitchell one-touched the carom of Stoner's shot off the end boards to him and he put it home for his second of the season. Granlund had been reassigned to the Wild's AHL affiliate in Houston, but never made it to Texas and was recalled on an emergency basis when Mike Rupp was too banged up to play. Parise put the puck into the crease, circled the net and still had to bang it home for a power-play goal 20 seconds into the third period, and Brodziak added his second of the night at 5:34 when he went in on a breakaway, was stopped but saw Dubnyk accidentally put the puck in his own net. But the Wild began to show the effects of playing on back-to-back nights, and the Oilers mounted a late push. Horcoff made it 5-2 at the 10-minute mark, finishing off a power-play feed from Taylor Hall on the Oilers' second shot of the period. Paajarvi scored 2:47 later when he tapped in a loose puck after Yakupov's shot beat Backstrom but hit the post. The Oilers pulled Dubnyk with just under two minutes remaining and controlled the puck in the Wild zone for most of that time but couldn't get another puck past Backstrom. Edmonton was in eighth place 15 days ago after routing the Calgary Flames. Since then, they've been outscored 22-7 in losing six straight times in regulation, effectively ending their hopes of making the playoffs for the first time since 2006.

Los Angeles v San Jose 2-3 - It was just minutes after the San Jose Sharks beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 in a shootout Tuesday night at HP Pavilion, and Sharks captain Joe Thornton was asked about a potential first-round playoff matchup between these Pacific Division rivals. Although the Sharks and Kings still have five regular-season games left, they went at each other as if the playoffs had already begun. When the wild and physical game ended, both team had 53 points; the Kings owned fourth place in the Western Conference because they have more non-shootout wins than the Sharks. Sharks forward Raffi Torres scored the only goal in the shootout, beating Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick in the third round by sliding a backhander through his legs. Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi stopped all three shots he faced, denying Jeff Carter, Anze Kopitar and, finally, Mike Richards. Brent Burns and TJ Galiardi, who skated together on the Sharks' first line, scored San Jose's goals in regulation. Captain Dustin Brown and defenseman Jake Muzzin scored for the Kings. Niemi, coming off a 4-0 shutout of the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday night, made 41 saves in his 21st straight start. Quick stopped 33 shots. The Sharks improved to 15-1-5 at home, while the Kings lost their fourth straight road game. Niemi's biggest save came when he stopped Jeff Carter on a 2-on-1 break with just over two minutes left in overtime. The Sharks and Kings entered the third period tied 2-2 after a wild second period in which each team scored a pair of goals. Dwight King had a great chance to put Los Angeles ahead early in the third after a turnover by Sharks captain Joe Thornton, but Niemi caught his blast from the low slot. Niemi made another great save late in the third on Carter's shot off a breakaway. Quick turned away two Galiardi shots late in the third, one on a rush and another after taking a feed from Thornton. After a scoreless first period, Burns and Galiardi scored in a span of 42 seconds midway through the second, giving the Sharks a 2-0 lead. But the Kings answered with second-period goals by Muzzin and Brown to pull even before intermission. Seconds before Burns' goal, Kings forward Dustin Penner had the puck along the boards in the Los Angeles zone, facing his own goal. He never saw Burns coming. In a flash, Burns raced in, stole the puck, moved toward the slot and ripped a shot past Quick for an unassisted goal at 8:48. Burns has scored eight goals, all of them since McLellan switched him from defense to a first-line wing. The Sharks quickly made it 2-0 when Galiardi took a cross-crease pass from Burns and scored from close range at 9:30. The goal was Galiardi's fourth of the season and third in the past eight games. Burns and Thornton earned assists. It was Thornton's 500th assist as a Shark and 785th overall. Muzzin scored a power-play goal at 13:59, cutting San Jose's lead to 2-1. Niemi had already killed off all 1:15 of a 5-on-3 power play with Galiardi in the penalty box for tripping defenseman Drew Doughty and defenseman Jason Demers for cross-checking Jarret Stoll. But with 32 seconds left on Demers ' penalty, Muzzin blasted a shot from the blue line through traffic, beating Niemi. With the Kings and Sharks skating 4-on-4, Brown rammed home a shot from point-blank range past Niemi when he couldn't cover a rebound. The goal was Brown's 14th of the season and third against the Sharks. The Sharks were playing on back-to-back nights, and the Kings hadn't played since Saturday night. After blowing a two-goal lead, San Jose could well have lost the game. Defenseman Scott Hannan, in his second stint with the Sharks, was in the lineup for the first time since coming to San Jose from Nashville in a trade on April 13. Hannan, who had been sidelined by a neck injury, played his first game as a Shark since May 7, 2007, a second-round playoff loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Hannan took rookie defenseman Matt Irwin's spot in the lineup and skated with Dan Boyle. In an odd switch, the Sharks wore their road white uniforms at home while the Kings wore their home black uniforms on the road. The reason? According to a Sharks spokesperson, the Kings requested the switch, and the Sharks agreed.