Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Staples Center in Los Angeles

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On Wednesday, the San Jose Sharks will visit the Stanley Cup champ Los Angeles Kings when they go up against each other on opening night. The Kings won three of their five games against the Sharks last year.

The Sharks had a solid season last year by finishing with the fifth-best record in the NHL, but they lost their first round matchup to the Los Angeles Kings in seven games. Veteran center Joe Pavelski led San Jose with 41 goals and he also added 38 assists. Left wing Patrick Marleau had 70 points in his 82 games on the ice.

In most people's eyes, the Sharks had a pretty bad offseason this year. Not only did they lose key players like Dan Boyle and Martin Havlat, they also couldn't pick up any top free agents.

The Kings were just 10th overall with 100 points last season, but they were fantastic in the playoffs and came away with the Stanley Cup trophy by beating the New York Rangers in the finals. Their top player last year was center Anze Kopitar, who has 29 goals and 41 assists, both of which led the team. All-Star defenseman Drew Doughty had 10 goals and 27 assists.

Since the Kings are pretty young and played well last year, it's no surprise that they were one of the quieter teams during the offseason. One key loss was defenseman Willie Mitchell, who is now the captain of the Florida Panthers.

Injuries to Watch

San Jose Sharks

10/06/14 C James Sheppard Knee expected to miss Wednesday vs. Los Angeles
10/06/14 LW Raffi Torres Knee out indefinitely
10/06/14 C Tyler Kennedy Upper Body expected to miss Wednesday vs. Los Angeles

Los Angeles Kings

10/06/14 RW Marian Gaborik Undisclosed probable Wednesday vs. San Jose

Tony's Pick: Take Los Angeles

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