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Sharks welcome Kings for Game 1 of West quarterfinals

Apr 14, 2011 - 3:26 PM (Sports Network) - The second-seeded San Jose Sharks will host Game 1 of the Western Conference quarterfinals this evening, when they welcome the Pacific Division rival Los Angeles Kings to HP Pavilion.

After getting bounced out of the 2009 playoffs in the first round despite capturing the Presidents' Trophy during the regular season, the Sharks made some amends in 2010 by reaching the Western Conference finals for the second time in club history. Still, a sweep at hands of the Chicago Blackhawks left a bitter taste in the Sharks' mouths and they will be out to prove last season was no fluke.

It is no secret that the Sharks can score. They were sixth in the league with 248 tallies and had six players reach the 20-goal mark. Forward Patrick Marleau led the way with 37, giving him at least 32 in three straight and five of his past six seasons.

While Marleau's production, which also included a team-best 73 points, didn't surprise many, center Logan Couture certainly turned heads with a club rookie- record 32 goals. Along with Ryane Clowe (24 goals, 38 assists), Devin Setoguchi (22g, 19a) and Joe Pavelski (20g, 46a), the 22-year-old gave San Jose secondary scoring outside of the top trio of Marleau, Dany Heatley and Joe Thornton.

It was needed after Heatley (26g) failed to reach 30 goals for the first time over a full season since 2001-02 -- he scored just 13 in 31 games in 2003-04 -- while Thornton's 70 points were second on the club along with a team- leading 49 assists. It was still a bit of a down year for the 31-year-old, who had 69 helpers and 89 points a season ago.

Though the Sharks did struggle when down a man, ranking 24th at 79.6 percent, they finished 10th in the league with 213 goals allowed. Part of that is thanks to a "if you can't beat them, join them" attitude that led to the signing Antti Niemi.

San Jose got a great look at Niemi last year after he helped the Blackhawks sweep the Sharks in the conference finals on the way to winning a Stanley Cup, and scooped him up after he became too expensive for Chicago.

Though he began the season sharing time with Antero Niittymaki, Niemi eventually became the No. 1 due to great play and injury troubles by Niittymaki. He finished with 60 starts and went 35-18-6 with a 2.38 goals- against average and .920 save percentage, signing a four-year extension before season's end.

Despite being in just his second year, Niemi is already playoff tested, going 16-6 with a 2.63 GAA in last year's postseason.

San Jose's blue line is anchored by Dan Boyle, whose 66 career playoff games trails only Marleau (106) and Thornton (91) on the roster. The veteran turned in another solid season, notching 41 assists and 50 points.

The seventh-seeded Kings, meanwhile, were able to make a second straight trip to the postseason thanks to a system that slanted towards the defensive side of things.

Defense was the name of the game for the Kings, who were tied for fifth in fewest goals allowed with 198 while also ranking fourth on the penalty kill at 85.5 percent. Led by goaltender Jonathan Quick and an excellent defensive duo in Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson, Los Angeles wore its opponents down, often for longer than 60 minutes. The Kings lost just six games beyond regulation, with Quick going a perfect 10-0 in shootouts this season.

Already reliant on the back end, the Kings struggled up front after losing both Justin Williams and Anze Kopitar to injury in late March. Williams went down with a dislocated right shoulder on March 21, while Kopitar was injured five days later and underwent right ankle surgery that will sideline him until next season.

Williams, who tied for second on the team with 57 points and was one of five 20-goal scorers with 22, made it through a second full practice on Tuesday and is a possibility for Game 1. The same can't be said for Kopitar and Los Angeles will certainly miss his team-leading 48 assists, 73 points and plus-25 rating. He was also tops with six game-winning goals, one more than Jarret Stoll.

Without Kopitar, and Williams unlikely to be at 100 percent, pressure will fall to captain Dustin Brown, veteran Ryan Smyth and winger Dustin Penner, who was rescued from hockey purgatory with Edmonton at the trade deadline, but only managed two goals in 19 games with the Kings.

LA fans will expect Penner to produce and he'll need to do better than the six career goals he owns in 34 playoff games.

Quick too will be in the spotlight after going 35-22-3 in 61 games this season, posting a solid 2.24 GAA and .918 save percentage with six shutouts. He won't be able to thrive in the shootout now, so he'll need to hold onto the leads he is given. Quick also needs to shake off last season's first-round exit at the hands of Vancouver in six games as he posted a 3.50 GAA in the series.

These division rivals split six games this season, but the Sharks held the points edge with a 3-1-2 mark and posted a 6-1 home victory in the final meeting on April 4.

Niemi went 2-1-2 with a 1.94 GAA while starting five of the meetings, while Marleau, Pavelski and Setoguchi had three goals each in the series. Marleau also added five assists and Pavelski was second with five points.

Quick appeared in five of the meetings, going 3-2-0 with a 2.19 GAA. Kopitar and Williams actually combined for zero goals in the set, but the former did have four assists.

This is the first time the Sharks and Kings are meeting in the postseason.

San Jose was 25-11-5 as the host this year and will welcome the Kings for Game 2 on Saturday. LA was 21-17-3 as the visiting team this season.