Los Angeles Kings come to town as the San Jose Sharks look for another win
By Conor Power
As the season ticks down for the San Jose Sharks, they will again try to get back to the win column. They will look to do that tonight when they host the Los Angeles Kings. Los Angeles is a team destined for the playoffs, though they are not in yet. Can the San Jose Sharks provide a hurdle for their Californian rivals, or will the Kings take that next step toward clinching another playoff berth?
For the Sharks tonight, the task will be simple: Trip up the Kings in any way they can. When the Kings are on the road, they can dominate rosters across the league, including those stronger than the Sharks. So, the goal has to be to slow them down and keep them from building up speed through the neutral zone. It's difficult, but that will be the task if the Sharks want to win tonight, and that is an if.
Still, the Sharks are seven points adrift at the bottom of the NHL standings, and the magic number of points to drop before the Sharks can no longer catch the Blackhawks is nine. Four more defeats and an overtime loss will see the Sharks cement themselves as the leading candidates for the first overall pick and the right to draft Macklin Celebrini. San Jose needs elite talent, so some do not want the team to win this one.
Projected Lineups
Los Angeles Kings
Quinton Byfield - Anze Kopitar - Adrian Kempe
Trevor Moore - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Viktor Arvidsson
Kevin Fiala - Blake Lizotte - Trevor Lewis
Jacob Moverare - Akil Thomas - Alex Laferriere
Mikey Anderson - Drew Doughty
Vladislav Gavrikov - Matt Roy
Andreas Englund - Jordan Spence
Cam Talbot
David Rittich
San Jose Sharks
Klim Kostin - Mikael Granlund - Fabian Zetterlund
William Eklund - Luke Kunin - Justin Bailey
Filip Zadina - Nico Sturm - Thomas Bordeleau
Kevin Labanc - Ryan Carpenter - Mike Hoffman
Mario Ferraro - Kyle Burroughs
Henry Thrun - Calen Addison
Marc-Edouard Vlasic - Jan Rutta
Mackenzie Blackwood
Devin Cooley
Puck Drop
The puck drop from the Shark Tank is at 7:30 tonight as the Sharks try to add another two points to the standings. We know that the Sharks have had quite a difficult season with a lot of losing, but with just a few games remaining, a few wins to reward the fans who have stuck around to watch this tragic season. We will see if the players can reward the loyal fans with two points.