Photo credit: (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) (The Associated Press)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ LOS ANGELES– Los Angeles gave their fans a season series win over San Jose on Fan Appreciation Day with a 4-1 victory Saturday.

The Sharks were unable to avenge their Stadium Series loss in the teams’ regular season finale. The Kings had their Stadium Series jersey on during the game.

On playing out the season today, San Jose’s Joe Pavelski said, “It’s annoying,  but it is what it is. The game’s enjoyable, obviously. We love to play, but we love to play for something. We wanted to go in and play for the pride, but at the end of the day, it’s not quite the same. It’s just disappointing. ”

Regarding the actual finale, Sharks’ head coach Todd McLellan said, “It was really a game where you didn’t know what to expect. We didn’t know if the teams were just going to wander through or if it wasg going to be physical, and I saw phases of both..There was some physicality but then there were some moments of free play. I thought our back end actually held up pretty well for most of the night, but then they started to take over and then they ended up winning .”

Los Angeles scored three goals in the third to break the tie and outshot San Jose 17-5 in the final period.

The first and second period each had its evenness and feistiness, with three penalties, an altercation and a goal apiece.

The Sharks got an early power play and scored early on the power play. 13 seconds into the man advantage, Joe Pavelski fed Brent Burns, who scored his first goal since the last game against the Stadium Series. The goal came at 1:38 and Joe Thornton got the second assist. It was Thornton’s third assist of the season matchup.

The altercation after the boarding penalty by the San Jose’s John Scott at 5:54 did not end with a penalty.

The Sharks outblocked the Kings 10-1 in the opening period.

The second period saw a roughing penalty for both sides.

Los Angeles evened the game at 10:47 of the second. Tyler Toffoli scored, aided by Jarret Stoll. Andy Andreoff got his first NHL assist.

Less than a minute later though, San Jose got a power play opportunity. The Kings had a shorthanded opportunity but missed.

One second after a Sharks’ penalty expired in the third, Los Angeles scored at 6:03. Brayden McNabb’s shot hit the post, then the net, for his second goal of the year and the eventual game-winner . Drew Doughty and Jeff Carter helped, Carter with his third assist of the season series.

Marian Gaborik made it 3-1, assisted by Jake Muzzin and Justin Williams at 9:27. Gaborik also scored in the Stadium Series.

Then, with 43.5 seconds left, Andreoff added an empty netter to his resume, with his second career goal, aided by Toffoli.

With McLellan’s and other Sharks’ members’ future uncertain, Logan Couture said, “Todd is an incredible coach. He has my respect and I respect the whole coaching staff a massive amount. I’ve learned a lot from every single one of those guys. I wouldn’t be the player I am right now without them. I hope he’s back and the whole coaching staff is back,  but its not my call. Whatever happens, happens and I’ll always have a great deal of respect for all those guys on that coaching staff.”

Game notes: San Jose’s assists and points streak ended. Teammate John Scott played defense for San Jose for the first time with Justin Braun out sick. It was Sharks’ goalie Alex Stalock’s first start of the season series. Burns, Toffoli and Gaborik both had their second goals of the season matchup.