Tonight at 10 p.m. ET, the Los Angeles Kings (27-18-12, 66 points) and San Jose Sharks (30-22-8, 68 points) face-off for the fourth of five meetings this season as part of the 2015 NHL Stadium Series live from Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
Los Angeles is red-hot heading into this game, having won six straight matches while San Jose has started to struggle, dropping two of its last three and five of seven entering the contest.
The Sharks hold a two-point lead over the Kings in the wild-card race while the Minnesota Wild (67 points) are right in between them.
Both teams are looking to catch the third place Calgary Flames (32 wins, 68 points) and second place Vancouver Canucks (69 points) in the Pacific Division while the first place Anaheim Ducks (79 points) have created a lot of separation.
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Los Angeles came back from a 3-0 series deficit in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season to knock off San Jose in seven games en route to their second Stanley Cup in three years.
San Jose notched a small measure of revenge this season by winning two of the previous three meetings with L.A., including a 4-2 victory last time they went head-to-head on Jan. 21.
The Kings enter this game coming off of a 4-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday that saw Jeff Carter notch two goals.
Carter leads L.A. with 45 points off of 18 tallies and 27 assists thus far this season.
Los Angeles struggled at the beginning of the campaign, but has enjoyed a nice turnaround as of late.
"There were some games that we got beat, but there were some games that we really shot ourselves in the foot with bad turnovers, bad giveaways, you name it," center Anze Kopitar told NHL.com. "Now it seems like we've been managing the puck a lot better and the goals against are cut down. That's where we want to go."
Kopitar is second on the Kings with 43 points off of 12 markers and 31 helpers while Tyler Toffoli has a team-best 19 goals and has added 19 assists for 38 points. Drew Doughty also remains a force and a leader on defense for the team, leading all blue liners with 35 points.
The Sharks come into this pivotal game on the heels of a 5-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on Thursday that snapped a two-match losing streak and saw Andrew Desjardins score two goals.
While the Kings are no strangers to outdoor games and played in the Stadium Series just last year -- a 3-0 loss to the Anaheim Ducks at Dodger Stadium -- the Sharks are excited to get their first taste of a game contested under the California sky.
"You see it's big. It's really big out there," Sharks center Joe Pavelski said after practicing at Levi's Stadium on Friday, according to NHL.com. "And then you've got the ice surface. It's awesome. It really is. You're excited to get out and skate around, get used to it."
Pavelski ranks tied for third in the NHL with 31 goals and second in the league with 16 power play tallies all while leading San Jose with 55 points.
Logan Couture is second on the Sharks with 52 points off of 21 goals and 31 helpers while Joe Thornton has a team-best 39 assists while finding the twine 12 times and ranking third on the club with 51 points.
San Jose's skaters will look to beat Los Angeles goaltender Jonathan Quick and he is 23-15-10 this season with a 2.46 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage.
The Sharks will counter with Antti Niemi in the crease and he is 24-14-7 with a 2.62 GAA and a .912 save percentage.
This will mark the fifth game under the NHL's Stadium Series banner and will be the second game to be played outside in 2015 after the Washington Capitals beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 on New Year's Day at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C.
The Kings and Sharks take their rivalry outdoors when the puck drops tonight live from Levi's Stadium in California.
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