Did that Kings game really happen last night?

A few thoughts on last night's epic 6 to 5 collapse by the Kings in game three of their playoff series against the Sharks:

•I was sitting in the Kings attack twice end of the ice. And guess what? All six San Jose goal were scored in front of me -- five in the second period and the final one in overtime.

•The 4 - 0 Kings lead was a bit of a deception. The Kings picked up a couple of cheap goals early and San Jose's defense and goalie looked very s-h-a-k-y before settling down.

•A four goal lead in hockey is nothing like a four touchdown lead in football. Football possessions generally take time and smart teams with leads know how to employ the running game to take a lot of time off the clock. In hockey, it can take five seconds for a team to regain possession of the puck and score.

•A lot of people in my section were beyond disgust with the play of winger Dustin Penner, who they accused of tepid effort and poor puck management skills. That didn't show up so much in the media coverage.

•That was the loudest and most crowded Kings game I've seen in my three years of going to games. That said, I'm inclined to agree with Mercury News columnist Mark Purdy that Staples Center is generally a pretty quiet place for hockey games. A lot of the noise at Kings games, including last night, comes from music and videos cranked up to rock concert levels. I have no idea who the Kings are marketing to -- seemingly 16 year old boys. It's funny, because I don't see a lot of 16 year old boys in the stands. Mostly I see adult guys, including some who managed to find dates.

As I've said before, at some point the Kings organization will realize that the most exciting thing about a hockey game is...a hockey game and all that other crap is just nonsense.

--S.H.