Postgame notes (March 20)

Some notes from last night’s game…

— The Kings moved into a playoff spot in the Western Conference won their season-best fifth consecutive game as they beat the San Jose Sharks 5-2 on Tuesday night at Staples Center.

— The Kings are now in eighth place in the West with 84 points, one point behind seventh-place Colorado and tied in points with ninth-place Phoenix but having played one fewer game. The Kings are also one point behind Pacific Division-leading Dallas.

— The Kings tied a season-high with five goals scored. They have reached that mark eight times this season.

— In the 12 games since the Jeff Carter trade, the Kings have totaled 42 goals (not counting a goal awarded for a shootout win), for an average of 3.5 goals per game. Before the trade, the Kings averaged 2.03 goals per game.

— The Kings have scored at least four goals in four consecutive games and in eight of their last 12 games. Before that, the Kings reached the four-goal mark 13 times in their first 61 games. The Kings have a 19-0-2 record when they score at least four goals.

— The Kings outshot the Sharks 42-22, including 16-5 in the second period. It was the eighth time this season that the Kings reached the 40-shot mark. The season-high is 44, on Dec. 8 vs. Minnesota.

— The Kings went 1-for-5 on the power play and 0-for-1 on the penalty kill, and scored a shorthanded goal. It was their eighth shorthanded goal of the season. New Jersey leads the NHL with 14 shorthanded goals.

— The Kings improved to 19-12-4 at Staples Center, 29-5-6 when scoring first and 26-0-3 when leading after the second period.

— Darryl Sutter coached his 900th NHL regular season game, and has a record of 430-331-139.

— Jonathan Quick stopped 20 of 22 shots. Quick has allowed two or fewer goals in 41 of his 61 starts this season, and has a 27-7-7 record in those games.

— Mike Richards scored a goal — his team-high third shorthanded goal of the season — and had two assists, to push his season totals to 16 goals and 23 assists. It was Richards’ third three-point game and eighth multi-point game of the season. Richards has two goals and two assists in his last three games. Richards has three goals and two assists in four games against San Jose this season.

— Anze Kopitar had one goal — on the power play — and two assists, to push his team-high totals to 24 goals and 41 assists. It was Kopitar’s second three-point game and team-high 15th multi-point game of the season. Kopitar has scored a goal in four consecutive games, which ties a career-high. Kopitar has four goals and three assists in his last seven games, and seven goals and seven assists in his last 11 games. Kopitar has two goals and four assists in four games against San Jose this season.

— Alec Martinez scored a goal, his fourth goal and eighth point of the season. Martinez, who had gone 23 consecutive games without a goal, now has two goals in his last three games.

— Dustin Penner scored a goal, his seventh goal and 17th point of the season. Penner has two goals and one assist in his last two games.

— Jeff Carter scored an empty-net goal, his 21st goal and 34th point of the season. Carter has four goals and three assists in his last six games. Since joining the Kings, Carter has six goals and three assists in 12 games.

— Willie Mitchell had one assist, on the shorthanded goal, his 14th assist and 18th point of the season.

— Slava Voynov had one assist, his 11th assist and 17th point of the season. Voynov has two goals and one assist in his last five games.

— Justin Williams had one assist, his 34th assist and 52nd point of the season. Williams has six goals and six assists in his last 11 games.

— Dustin Brown had one assist, on the power play, his 28th assist and 47th point of the season. Brown has five goals and 11 assists in his last 12 games.

— Jeff Carter recorded a game-high six shots on goal. Dustin Brown was credited with a game-high five hits. Willie Mitchell was credited with a team-high four blocked shots.

— Drew Doughty led the Kings in ice time, with a game-high 24 minutes, 28 seconds, followed by Willie Mitchell, at 23:52. Anze Kopitar led all Kings forwards in ice time, at 20:56, followed by Dustin Brown, at 19:17.

— The Kings won 34 of 57 faceoffs (60 percent). Anze Kopitar won 8 of 19 draws (42 percent). Jarret Stoll won 11 of 15 draws (73 percent). Mike Richards won 8 of 15 draws (53 percent).