Key play: Patrick Marleau scored the last of the Sharks’ three power-play goals and San Jose held on for a 3-2 victory Wednesday in Game 4 of their first-round playoff series against the Kings at the SAP Center. Marleau backhanded a rebound into the net at 1:40 of the final period.

The series: The Sharks lead 3-1. Game 5 is Friday at Staples Center.

Pivotal performer: San Jose defenseman Brent Burns scored the Sharks’ first power-play goal, whistling a one-timed shot from the left faceoff circle past Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick. Burns also assists on Marleau’s goal, which turned out to be the game-winner.

Quote, unquote: “Our penalty-kill wasn’t near good enough,” said Kings defenseman Luke Schenn, who was on the ice for Burns’ goal “Special teams made a huge difference. Our special teams need to improve if we’re going to climb back in it.”

Status quo: Kings coach Darryl Sutter and San Jose counterpart Peter DeBoer stayed with the same lineups for Game 4 that they used in Game 3. DeBoer indicated dissatisfaction with his fourth line after Game 3, but stuck with Nick Spaling, Chris Tierney and Tommy Wingels for Game 4.