Two fierce California rivals are set to duke it out when the Sharks and Kings open up their Round 1 best-of-seven series Thursday as part of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
San Jose enters this series with revenge on its mind after blowing a 3-0 series lead to Los Angeles two postseasons ago and losing in seven games. The Kings went on to win the Stanley Cup that year. Both clubs missed the playoffs last year.
The Sharks won 46 games and notched 98 points to advance to the playoffs this season as the Pacific Division's No. 3 seed. The Kings were triumphant 48 times and earned 102 points to get the chance to vie for their third Stanley Cup in five years. This is the fourth time in six years these two teams meet in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
San Jose, which will get Matt Nieto and Marc-Edouard Vlasic back from injury, has a dominant 1-2 punch in the rejuvenated Joe Thornton and the goal-scoring guru Joe Pavelski. Thornton led the Sharks in assists (63) and points (82) this season, while Pavelski paved the way with a club-best 38 goals.
Los Angeles has a deep and battle-tested lineup, paced by Anze Kopitar, who led the team with 49 assists and 74 points. Tyler Toffoli lit the lamp a club-best 31 times in the regular season.
Though he's in his first year as the bench boss for the Sharks, Pete DeBoer has plenty of experience with the Kings, who ousted the Devils in six games in the Stanley Cup Final in 2012 with him at the helm.
"Obviously there are a lot of teams left in the wake of the Kings who aren't leaving with good feelings over the last five or six years," DeBoer said via NHL.com. "It's a great test and you have to go through the best to win this trophy, and we're starting from one of the best."
Darryl Sutter believes his team is ready.
"I think every team that gets to the playoffs at this point is quite motivated," the coach told NHL.com. "I think you go from 30 [teams] to 16, which means everybody's goal going in is to knock that to that number."
Game Preview & Live Stream
Details: Sharks at Kings Game 1.
Venue: Staples Center, Los Angeles, Calif.
Time: 10:30 p.m. ET (7:30 p.m. PT).
Radio: San Jose (KFOX 98.5); Los Angeles (AM 570)
Prediction: Our predictions for this series can be found here.
Betting Odds: The latest betting odds can be found here.
Watch Online: This game can be live streamed for free here.
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