Sharks at Kings
The Los Angeles Kings pulled off the near-impossible in their last postseason meeting with the San Jose Sharks, overcoming a 3-0 series deficit to win their first-round matchup, and went on to capture their second Stanley Cup championship in three years. San Jose will have revenge on its mind when the Pacific Division rivals meet in Los Angeles on Thursday for Game 1 of their opening-round showdown.
The Sharks are comfortable away from home as they set a franchise record for road wins by posting a league-best 28-10-3 record. Los Angeles is hoping its trend of winning Cups in alternate years continues as it claimed the trophy in 2012 and 2014. That likely will depend on the performance of 2012 Conn Smythe Trophy winner Jonathan Quick, who set a franchise record with 40 wins during the regular season. San Jose went 3-1-1 in the season series, winning both visits to Los Angeles.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, CNBC, CBC, TVA; CSN California (San Jose); FSN West (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE SHARKS (46-30-6): San Jose will turn to someone familiar with its opponent in Game 1 as former King Martin Jones will start in net. The 26-year-old goaltender, who was acquired from Boston four days after Los Angeles traded him to the Bruins last summer, went 37-23-4 with six shutouts and a 2.27 goals-against average in his first season as a starter and got the decision in all five meetings with the Kings. The Sharks likely will receive a boost on the blue line as Marc-Edouard Vlasic is expected to play in the series opener after missing the final 12 regular-season games with a knee injury.
ABOUT THE KINGS (48-28-6): Los Angeles is hoping to have Marian Gaborik and defensemen Alec Martinez and Matt Greene in the lineup at some point during the series, as all three participated in practice Wednesday. Gaborik has been sidelined for two months with a knee injury, Martinez sat out the final week of the regular season with an undisclosed ailment and Greene has not played since Oct. 13 because of a shoulder ailment that required surgery in December. Tyler Toffoli, who became the first King to hit the 30-goal plateau since Anze Kopitar in 2008-09 with 31, looks to carry over his strong play as he finished the season with nine points (four goals) in his final eight games.
OVERTIME
1. The Sharks and Kings are meeting for the fourth time in their last five postseason appearances as neither team qualified in 2014-15.
2. Captain Joe Pavelski led San Jose with 10 points (four goals) in the season series while Toffoli and C Jeff Carter notched five points apiece for Los Angeles.
3. San Jose will not have D Mirco Mueller at the start of the series as it assigned the 20-year-old Switzerland native to the San Jose Barracuda of the American Hockey League.