Shortly after Todd McLellan became the San Jose Sharks' new coach, he recognized the importance of convincing his talented team to shoot early and often.

With 82 shots and two easy wins in their first two outings, the Sharks are clearly paying attention to their new bench boss.

Tomas Plihal scored the short-handed go-ahead goal, Evgeni Nabokov had to make just 12 saves and the Sharks overwhelmed Los Angeles with 41 shots in a 3-1 victory Saturday night, blemishing Kings coach Terry Murray's debut.

Devin Setoguchi and Joe Pavelski also scored as the Sharks handily beat their second straight Pacific Division opponent after opening the season with a 4-1 win over Anaheim on Thursday night.

McLellan says his system isn't complicated, but it requires attention to puck possession and aggressive passing. It also calls for plenty of shots at the opposing net, and his players have seemed eager to oblige in both games.

"When you shoot, good things happen," said defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who had two assists. "The first 10 minutes of the game, we were a little too fancy. We got back to taking a lot of shots, and it started to pay off for us."

Defenseman Rob Blake had five of San Jose's shots while playing a second outstanding game for the Sharks, who signed the longtime Kings star as a free agent during the summer. Blake spent 13 1/2 of his first 18 NHL seasons with Los Angeles, including the past two, but left for the chance to join a playoff contender.

Alexander Frolov scored an early goal and Jason LaBarbera stopped 38 shots for the Kings, who hope to rebuild under Murray's direction after finishing last season tied with Tampa Bay with an NHL-low 71 points. Los Angeles actually won three games at the Shark Tank in November 2007 alone, but San Jose took control Saturday night with a dominant second period that included a 17-4 shot advantage.

"It was a faster game than the Anaheim game, and we had our legs underneath us and moved the puck well," McLellan said. "It was the first big test of many, to see how we would come out and how our leadership would react, and they passed."

The clubs finish a back-to-back miniseries Sunday night at Staples Center.

Anze Kopitar, the Kings' All-Star center, wasn't much of a factor in his first game since agreeing to a seven-year, $47.6 million contract extension through 2016 earlier Saturday. Kopitar managed just one shot in 19 minutes of ice time. Continued...