5th Preseason Game: San Jose Sharks vs. LA Kings

The last time the San Jose Sharks played the Los Angeles Kings was game 7 of the Western Conference Quarterfinals, where the Sharks blew a 3-0 series lead. Every fan has tried to forget that moment, but it is hard to forget it when that has been engraved in our head.

Preview: 

The Kings are 3-0-1 in the preseason. Carter leads the team with 3 points.  The Sharks are 2-1-1.  The Sharks has two young players named Goldobin and Goodrow with 4 points each.

Goaltending matchups:

For the Los Angeles Kings:

Martin Jones: 2-0-0 72 shots faced, 5 goals allowed.

Jean Francois Berube- 0-0-0 16 shots faced, 1 goal allowed

Patrick Bartosak-0-0-1 21 shots faced, 3 goals allowed

For the San Jose Sharks:

Alex Stalock: 1-1-0 35 Shots faced,  4 goals allowed

Antti Niemi- 0-0-1  18 shots faced, 1 goal allowed

Troy Grosenick- 1-0-0 10 Shots faced, 2 goals allowed

I’ll be assuming Martin Jones gets the nod in goal for the Kings. Alex Stalock and Antti Niemi will split time tonight. Both teams need to get ready for the start of the regular season.

Who to look for: 

For the San Jose Sharks, it has to be Mirco Mueller, Nikolay Goldobin and Barclay Goodrow.  All three of them are really good prospects and have great preseason’s so far. As Doug Wilson said in the off-season “We’re a tomorrow team”. This is a phase that the Sharks organization has never gone into the past, and maybe should have many years ago.

For the Los Angeles Kings, It’s the typical Anze Kopitar and Mike Richards who are looking for a major bounce back year. In addition to Justin Williams, Drew Doughty and Marian Gaborik.

What to look for in the game: 

What you should look for in the game is the developments of  the prospects and how the Sharks goalies play. Alex Stalock and Antti Niemi are in a goaltending battle of who will get the majority of the starts this year. And this game is important because we are facing the Los Angeles Kings. If the Sharks win, it will feel good because it can prove that the Sharks can beat the Kings. This game won’t help us get over the pain of what we felt last spring, but it will be a step in the right direction.