The San Jose Sharks are in Southern California today for a quick two-game road trip against our Golden State rivals. The weather in SoCal isn’t much better than the weather here at home, so the Sharks aren’t escaping the rain. Luckily, hockey is an indoor sport.
First up are the Los Angeles Kings, a team that worked the schedule makers as best it could. While both teams are playing the second night of back-to-back games, the Kings will have a little more rest. Not only did LA’s players get to sleep in their own beds, but the team also started earlier, dropping the puck against the Toronto Maple Leafs at 4 p.m. PT. The Kings’ game was ending even before the Sharks skated through the Shark head at The Tank.
Both teams are looking to amend for losses the previous night. The Kings fell 3-1 to the Leafs, while the Sharks lost 6-1.
That said, LA is in a much different place than the Sharks. The Kings are in a battle with the Edmonton Oilers for who gets home ice in the first round of the playoffs. Meantime, the Sharks are battling for the bottom spot in the league. San Jose currently leads the tank standings.
The last time these two teams played was all the way back on Nov. 25 when the Sharks scored a touchdown against the Kings, beating the team 7-2. The Sharks also won 4-2 on Oct. 29, and lost 3-2 on Oct. 24. This is the final meeting of the season between the teams.
Adrian Kempe leads the team with 58 points in 72 games. The key for the Kings is balanced scoring and solid defense. Seven players have 15 or more goals this season. Meantime, LA is second in the league in goals against per game with 2.53. Only the Winnipeg Jets, backed by Vezina leading candidate Connor Hellebuyck, have a better goals against per game than the Kings.
LA is getting balanced goaltending from Darcy Kuemper and David Rittich. Kuemper is 25-10-7 with a .919 save percentage and 2.10 goals against average. Rittich is a little worse, 14-13-2 with a 2.77 goals against average and .888 save percentage.
Since this is the second night of back to back games, look for Georgi Romanov in the net. Also, Klim Kostin is expected to be back out with Carl Gundstrom back in, according to NHL.com. As expected, Vincent Desharnais is out for the road trip and Jimmy Schuldt will play with Luca Cagnoni.
5:26 update: According to Sheng Peng, sounds like Noah Gregor is in for Patrick Giles. Schuldt stayed behind so Marc-Eduardo Vlasic will play.
ForwardsWilliam Eklund — Macklin Celebrini — Will SmithCollin Graf — Alexander Wennberg — Tyler ToffoliTy Dellandrea — Patrick Giles — Cam Lund
Carl Grundstrom — Zack Ostapchuk — Barclay Goodrow
DefenseMario Ferraro — Shakir MukhamadullinLucas Carlsson — Timothy Liljegren
Luca Cagnoni — Jimmy Schuldt
GoaltendersGeorgi Romanov
Alexandar Georgiev
The Kings, also on the second night of back-to-back games, will likely have similar lines to what the team used yesterday. Expect Rittich to start in the net tonight since Kuemper started last night. Here’s what NHL.com reports the Kings’ lines will look like.
ForwardsAndrei Kuzmenko — Anze Kopitar — Adrian KempeWarren Foegele — Phillip Danault — Trevor MooreKevin Fiala — Quinton Byfield — Alex Laferriere
Jeff Malott — Samuel Helenius — Trevor Lewis
DefenseMikey Anderson — Drew DoughtyVladislav Gavrikov — Jordan Spence
Joel Edmundson — Brandt Clarke
GoaltendersDavid Rittich
Darcy Kuemper
This is a battle of California rivals, so it’s going to air on ESPN tonight. In Canada, it’s on SN360. If you want to hear the local call, you can listen on the Sharks Audio Network.
The puck drops at 7 p.m. PT at Crypto.com Arena.
