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San Jose Sharks To Face Kings In Season Opener

By Patrick Leiva |
Apr 20, 2016; San Jose, CA, USA; Los Angeles Kings left wing Dwight King (74) and San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns (88) collide as they battle for the puck in front of goal as San Jose Sharks center Tomas Hertl (48) defends in the first period of game four of the first round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 20, 2016; San Jose, CA, USA; Los Angeles Kings left wing Dwight King (74) and San Jose Sharks defenseman Brent Burns (88) collide as they battle for the puck in front of goal as San Jose Sharks center Tomas Hertl (48) defends in the first period of game four of the first round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: John Hefti-USA TODAY Sports

In one of the rare rivalries on the West Coast, the Sharks and Kings will square off in the season openers for both teams at SAP Center.

For the third consecutive season, the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings will begin their 82-game journeys against one another.

This time, it will be San Jose’s turn to host their Souther California brethren as the two teams will renew their rivalry at SAP Center on Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 7:30 p.m. to kick off the 2016-17 NHL season.

In each of the two previous seasons, team teal has begun their campaigns with resounding victories over the Kings.

In 2014-15, San Jose had to endure a banner-raising ceremony in L.A. after the Sharks blew a 3-0 lead in the first round against the Kings. Team teal would get a very small dose of retribution, blanking the Kings by a 5-0 scoreline.

Last year, the Sharks and Kings would square off at Staples Center once again as both teams looked to bounce back after missing the playoffs the year prior. After L.A. scored on their first shot, it was all San Jose as Martin Jones defeated his former teammates by a 5-1 final.

Most recently, these two teams met in the opening round of the playoffs as the Sharks looked to avenge two crushing seven-game series losses at the hands of the Kings in 2012-13 and 2013-14.

From start to finish, San Jose was just the superior team against L.A., winning all three games at Staples Center en route to a five-game series victory and a bouncing off point to a Stanley Cup Finals run.

The Sharks dismantling of the Kings has forced L.A. to make changes of their own as they stripped the captaincy from Dustin Brown and named Anze Kopitar as their new captain. This comes as no surprise as Kopitar is one of the Kings top players, while Brown has been simply awful the past two or three years.

It will be interesting to see if the dynamics change at all and starting off against one of your rivals should only make for a great start to the season.

Next: Sharks Top Priorities For The Offseason

Last week, team teal also released their preseason schedule which will feature six games, home-and-home, against the Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes and Vancouver Canucks.

The rest of the 2016-17 regular season schedule will be released tomorrow, but yet again, the year should start off with a bang for the Sharks against their hated rivals in front of what should be a charged up crowd at the Shark Tank.

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