Tonight at 10:30 p.m. ET, the Los Angeles Kings (46-28-8, 100 points regular-season) and San Jose Sharks (51-22-9, 111 points) faceoff live from the SAP Center in San Jose for Game 1 of their best-of-seven Stanley Cup Playoff series. The game can be live streamed for free here. Los Angeles fans can hear all of the action on KTLK 1150 while San Jose fans can do the same on KFOX 102.1.
San Jose enters as one of the favorites for a deep run after notching the No. 2 spot in the Pacific Division while Los Angeles comes in as the No. 3 seed just two years removed from their Stanley Cup run. The Kings took three out of five games from the Sharks in the regular-season.
The Kings are still working the kinks out on their top line, but new addition Marian Gaborik notched three goals and 12 points in their last 11 regular-season games.
"We still have to tune some things up, but I think it was progress," Gaborik told LA Kings Insider. "Got to know the guys a little bit on the ice and off the ice, and obviously get some chemistry in our line from the start. I think it was progressing each and every game, and we're ready to go to the playoffs."
The Sharks have a very deep lineup and with promising rookie Tomas Hertl making his NHL Playoffs debut, it's not eminently clear where he will play in Game 1 as he returns from injury.
"Some of that is our mindset. You begin to think of him as a regular player; you don't think of him as an injured guy working his way back in," Sharks coach Todd McLellan told the San Jose Mercury News. "If he feels that from us, and from his teammates, it moves him along quicker and further."
The Sharks were led offensively this season by Joe Pavelski, who had 79 points off of 41 goals and 38 assists while Joe Thornton had 11 markers and 65 helpers for 76 points and Patrick Marleau lit the lamp 33 times while adding 37 assists for 70 points.
Anze Kopitar paced the Kings this season with 70 points off of 29 goals and 41 assists while Jeff Carter had 27 tallies and 23 helpers for 50 points and Justin Williams found the twine 19 times while adding 24 assists for 43 points.
In net, Los Angeles turns to Jonathan Quick, who went 27-17-4 with a 2.07 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage while Antti Niemi will man the crease for San Jose after going 39-17-7 this season with a 2.39 GAA and a .913 save percentage.
It will likely be a very physical and bloody battle for California when these Pacific Division rivals take the ice and the puck drops on the Kings and Sharks tonight at the SAP Center in San Jose.
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