Kings at Sharks
The Los Angeles Kings find themselves in an unenviable position in their first-round series against the San Jose Sharks, but it's nothing they haven't experienced before. The Kings look to avoid falling into a 3-0 hole versus San Jose for the second time in three years when they visit the Sharks in Game 3 on Monday.
Los Angeles was in that situation in 2014 and went on to become the fourth team in Stanley Cup playoff history to rally from the deficit and win the series, but the club knows how difficult the task was and does not want to be forced to repeat it. "It’s a completely different situation," Kings center Anze Kopitar told reporters after Saturday's 2-1 loss. "Our mind set’s got to be to go out there and win the next game and just build off that. That’s where we’re putting in our heads tonight, we’re going to prepare tomorrow and we’re going to go up there and be better." The fact the Kings dropped the first two contests at home - both one-goal decisions - should come as no surprise as the Sharks recorded a franchise-record 28 victories on the road during the regular season for the second-most in NHL history. San Jose captain Joe Pavelski continues to be a thorn in Los Angeles' side, recording three goals and an assist over the first two games after registering four tallies and 10 points in five regular-season meetings.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, NBC Sports, CBC, TVA, Prime Ticket (Los Angeles), CSN California (San Jose)
ABOUT THE KINGS: Marian Gaborik returned to the lineup Saturday after missing the team's final 28 regular-season games with a sprained knee and had a solid game, recording four shots in 14 minutes, 32 seconds of ice time en route to being named the Third Star of the Game. "I thought after being off nine weeks, nine and a half weeks, I thought he played really well," coach Darryl Sutter told reporters. "I thought Gabby was our best winger." Defenseman Jamie McBain replaced the injured Alec Martinez in the lineup in Game 2 and blocked three shots in 16:14 of ice time in his first career playoff game.
ABOUT THE SHARKS: Joe Thornton notched his first point of the series Saturday as he helped set up Pavelski's game-opening goal. It was the veteran center's 77th career postseason assist, tying him with Claude Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, Bobby Clarke and Ken Linseman for 41st place on the all-time list. Martin Jones is 5-1-1 against his former team but credits his defensemen for his playoff success. "We’ve done a great job both games keeping them to the outside," he told reporters. "They’re a team that likes to crash the net and take pucks to the net, and we’ve done a really good job. The other thing is just shot-blocking. Throughout the year, it’s been great."
OVERTIME
1. The Sharks are 2-for-9 on the power play after ranking third in the league at 22.5 percent during the regular season.
2. Los Angeles is 3-10 in best-of-seven series in which it lost the first two games.
3. Despite being the NHL's best road team in the regular season, San Jose was a disappointing 18-20-3 at home.