Kings at Sharks
Although they've won five of their last six contests, the San Jose Sharks would be wise to keep their guard up when they host the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday. The Pacific Division rivals have met once already this season, with the Kings skating away with a 4-3 overtime victory on Oct. 30. That contest set off a five-game winless streak for the Sharks, who don't need additional incentive against the team that eliminated them after seven hard-fought contests in the second round of the last season's Western Conference playoffs.
Anze Kopitar joked with reporters that he "closed his eyes and shot" when he scored 48 seconds into overtime as Los Angeles snapped a modest two-game skid with a 3-2 victory over Vancouver on Monday. The Slovenian has torched the Sharks in his career (13 goals, 27 assists in 44 contests) - and the last meeting was no exception. Kopitar set up the game-tying goal before netting the winner 2:32 into overtime.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, FSN West (Los Angeles), CSN California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE KINGS (16-6-3): Ben Scrivens continues to excel in Jonathan Quick's absence, recording 37 saves against the Canucks to improve to 5-0-3 since replacing the former Conn Smythe Trophy winner in net. While Quick is expected to be sidelined until late December with a groin injury, Jeff Carter returned from a 10-game absence due to an ailing foot and notched an assist. Carter's former Philadelphia teammate, Mike Richards, scored for the first time in eight games.
ABOUT THE SHARKS (15-3-5): San Jose's sputtering special teams are cause for concern, so much so that coach Todd McLellan spent the majority of a pair of practices addressing the ailing power play (0-for-11 in the last four games). "Players just have to be reminded that these are the things we do, this is how we do them," McLellan told the San Jose Mercury News. The Sharks have dropped nearly two percent with the man advantage (21.4 to 19.6) and have yielded a power-play goal in four of their last six contests.
OVERTIME
1. Sharks G Antti Niemi, who made 18 saves in a 2-1 win over New Jersey on Saturday, has permitted just one goal in three of four games.
2. Los Angeles is 0-for-11 on the power play over its last three contests.
3. San Jose is an impressive 9-0-1 with the versatile Brent Burns in the lineup.