Tonight at 10:30 p.m. ET, two Pacific Division rivals faceoff as the San Jose Sharks (10-1-1, 21 points) and Los Angeles Kings (8-5-0, 16 points) hit the ice against each other for the first of five meetings between these two teams live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The game can be live streamed here. San Jose fans can hear all the bone-crunching action by adjusting their radios to KFOX-FM 98.5 while Los Angeles fans can do the same by accessing KTLK AM 1150.
The Sharks enter the game on top of the Pacific Division with the most amount of points in the NHL while the Kings are in fifth place in the Pacific, five points behind San Jose. The Sharks conclude their five-game road trip and enter play at 3-1-1 on the swing while the Kings are home and coming off of a 3-1 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes on the road Tuesday.
San Jose's defense and goaltending have carried them on the trip while their goal scoring has lacked. The Sharks enter play with a plus-28 goals margin, which is the best in the NHL.
"We've always kind of been known as a good defensive team," captain Joe Thornton told NHL.com after practice Tuesday. "This year is no different. We're playing real tight and when guys need to block shots, they block shots. We feed off good defense, and that's how we usually get good offense."
Thornton enters the game third in the league in assists with 12 and has added a goal for 13 points and is fourth in scoring on the team. Ahead of Thornton are Patrick Marleau (eight goals, six assists) and Logan Couture (six goals, eight assists) who each have 14 points, as well as Joe Pavelski, who has four tallies and nine helpers for 13 points.
Goals were at a premium for Los Angeles in its loss to the Coyotes Tuesday night, as Jarret Stoll's power play goal late in the third was the only tally for the Kings.
"I think, from a personal standpoint, it's nice to see Stolly get a goal," captain Dustin Brown told NHL.com. "Sometimes it's just getting that one, whether it turns out to be a power play goal late in a 3-0 game, but that might be enough to spark him and get some secondary scoring going for this team."
The Kings top scorer is Anze Kopitar, who is the only player in double digits with 11 points on one goal and 10 assists while Jeff Carter has nine points off of five goals and four assists and Justin Williams (four tallies and four helpers) and Mike Richards (two goals, six assists) each have eight.
If goals are tough to come by, it will be even harder for Los Angeles as it faces Antti Niemi, who leads the league in wins with nine and boasts an impressive 9-1-1 record and is second in the league with a 1.53 goals-against average while adding a .933 save percentage. Los Angeles counters with Jonathan Quick, who is third in the league with seven wins and has a 7-4-0 record to go along with a 2.53 GAA and a .907 save percentage.
The Sharks look to continue to keep a hold of the division while the Kings hope to score more goals to gain some ground when the puck drops tonight at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
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