Kings land the big fish

Dustin Brown slipped down the left side, gliding and waiting.

Anze Kopitar spotted him and sent a pass cross-ice. The eternity that the moment seemed to take was a product of the pain and suffering the Kings have endured through the first six weeks of the season.

Real time kicked in. Brown swung. The red light went on. The Kings had something worth putting in the scrapbook.

Brown’s goal with 3 minutes 10 seconds to play in the third period sent the Kings on their way to a 4-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Monday in front of an announced 16,667 at Staples Center.

A quarter of the way through the 2006-07 season, the Kings had a monumental victory.

“We’ve done enough learning through losing,” defenseman Aaron Miller said. “It’s time that we win.”

The Kings, of course, have won before, even this season. But this was the first time they defeated a team of the Sharks’ caliber. The Kings were 0-7-3 against teams that held Western Conference playoff spots.

That streak of futility came to an end against one of the league’s best; the Sharks have the second-most points in the conference.

“It felt good to get one against one of the top tier teams,” Brown said. “We have points from overtime losses and shootouts. Against Anaheim and Minnesota. But this was a victory.”

Brown helped make it happen, capping a third-period rally. He scooted down the ice alone, hoping to catch Kopitar’s eye, and did.

“I was going to pass to Michael Cammalleri, then I saw Brownie and I knew the goalie didn’t see him,” said Kopitar, who leads the Kings with 17 points.

Brown had an agonizing few seconds.

“That puck took a while to get to me,” he said. “I didn’t think it ever would.”

It did, and Brown blasted a shot into an open net. After few nervous moments and an empty-net goal by Alexander Frolov -- his second goal of the game -- the Kings had themselves a quality victory.

“When you’re off to the start we’re off to, it’s time to win some big games,” Coach Marc Crawford said earlier Monday. “Moral victories are useless to us now. ... As a player, you have to say, ‘I can be a difference maker.’ ”

Many did just that. The Kings dominated throughout, containing the fast and the furious, a collection of tremendous talent the Sharks can throw onto the ice. Their power play, tops in the league, had only four opportunities and each was smothered.

Yet, the Sharks held a 2-1 lead after Joe Thornton scored a soft goal 47 seconds into the third period.

Defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky, who has had to adjust to playing on the left side this season, as he has often been teamed with Rob Blake, erased that three minutes later with a one-timer from the blue line that snaked its way through traffic.

“I have never played on the left before,” Visnovsky said. “It’s harder for me to get a one-timer on that side. My stick is on the outside rather than the inside. But it is getting better.”

Everything was better Monday.

“That was huge,” Miller said. “We have tended to go into a shell for a few minutes after giving up leads this season. This time, our hard work paid off.”

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Defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky did not play in the third period because of a leg injury. ... Luc Robitaille, who retired after last season, was named assistant to Tim Leiweke, the Kings’ governor, on Monday.

chris.foster@latimes.com