The news was no news Sunday; not in Los Angeles, and not in San Jose. No new players for either team, no new lines, no new goaltenders.

With Jonathan Quick, you'd figure there was nothing to report. Fifty-one saves in a 3-1 win tends to enhance one's rep. On the other hand, one save is not nearly so much, so Antti Niemi's position was not so safe.

But when day dawned after the Kings' cut San Jose's series lead to 3-2, Niemi was still the Sharks' choice to get them out of the first round and en route to a date with either Detroit or more waiting.

"He is our guy," head coach Todd McLellan said of Niemi, "but this is also a matter of him not being the only one that didn't play to expectations. I don't think we did enough to help him."

"It's not just him," defenceman Douglas Murray said in concurrence. "It's us making mistakes. It's all of us, all six on the ice.

Referring to the fact San Jose has been outscored 8-1 in the first period during the series, Murray said: It's unforgivable. But it's real easy to talk about, but much harder to get the job done."

San Jose's defensive corps was substandard in the first nine minutes, thereby making Niemi's struggles slightly more forgivable in McLellan's eyes. But McLellan has no real recourse but to go with the six he has used, in part because the biggest struggler, Dan Boyle, is also his best defenceman, but also because the Sharks are still up a game and don't want to give in to the tempting notion to panic when panic is called for.

It should be noted, though, that no team has gone to seven games in the first round and won the Stanley Cup since the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991 and then 1992. The Sharks need to figure out how to close a series on the road despite the fact that it has been cruel to home teams. Five road wins are rare in a series.

They also need to figure out how to score first, since the first goal has led to the winner 33 of 39 times in this postseason as of April 23.

LOS ANGELES

Scott Parse     Michal Handzus       Justin Williams
Ryan Smyth         Trevor Lewis     Dustin Brown
Kyle Clifford    Brad Richardson   Wayne Simmonds
Dustin Penner  Jarret Stoll  Kevin Westgarth

Willie Mitchell    Drew Doughty
Jack Johnson     Rob Scuderi
Matt Greene      Alec Martinez

Jonathan Quick
Jonathan Bernier

SAN JOSE

Patrick Marleau     Joe Thornton    Devin Setoguchi
Dany Heatley       Logan Couture      Ryane Clowe
Torrey Mitchell     Joe Pavelski       Kyle Wellwood
Jamie McGinn       Scott Nichol          Jamal Mayers

Douglas Murray      Dan Boyle
Marc-Edouard Vlasic  Jason Demers
Ian White              Niclas Wallin

Antti Niemi
Antero Niittymaki