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Sharks aim for payback against defending champion Kings

Oct 8, 2014 - 2:46 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - For the second time in three years, the Los Angeles Kings will open the season as defending Stanley Cup champions.

Their banner raising on Wednesday night at the Staples Center will be an especially painful one to watch for the San Jose Sharks.

The Kings begin defense of their title against the same Sharks club they needed to rally past in the first round of last season's playoffs, doing so in historic fashion.

It was a lengthy title run for Los Angeles, which went the distance in each series of its gauntlet through the Western Conference before besting the New York Rangers in five games in the Cup Finals.

But long before the Kings found themselves skating around the ice with Lord Stanley's Cup, there were in the brink of elimination in Round 1. The Sharks outscored the Kings 17-8 in taking the first three games of the set, but managed just five goals the rest of the way as Los Angeles rallied to become the fourth team in league history to come back from a 3-0 series deficit.

The bad news for the Sharks is that the Kings return essentially the same group from last season, minus defenseman Willie Mitchell, who Los Angeles was unable to re-sign in the offseason due to the salary cap.

What the Kings did do was keep Marian Gaborik in the mix, re-signing the winger after picking him up in a deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets prior to the last season's trade deadline.

Gaborik should see time on the first line with Selke Trophy nominee Anze Kopitar as the Kings try to become the first repeat champions since the 1997-98 Detroit Red Wings.

While Gaborik and Kopitar had excellent postseason performances, captain Dustin Brown and Mike Richards try to shake off season-long struggles in this new campaign. Brown had just 27 points in 79 games, while Richards had 11 goals and 41 points in 82 contests. He found himself on the fourth line by season's end.

Jonathan Quick is likely to get the start for this opener despite offseason wrist surgery to correct an injury he suffered in the second round against Anaheim.

Quick also was limited to just 49 games last regular season and won both games versus the Sharks, giving up three goals on 43 shots with a shutout. He also posted a 30-save shutout against San Jose in Game 5 of the opening round.

As far as Wednesday's pre-game festivities go, L.A. defenseman Drew Doughty is one Kings player who hopes the ceremony doesn't drag on too long for fear it could affect the team's start.

"To be honest, the players, we want the ceremony as short as possible," said Doughty. "We don't want it to drag on and have us standing out there for 20 minutes or whatever it may be, because it is tough. When it's a long ceremony, it affects you going into your first couple shifts, without a doubt."

The Sharks' first-round exit came despite an 111-point campaign, their highest point total in four seasons, and touched off questions about whether the club should start to rebuild despite having recently signed Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau to three-year extensions on Jan. 24.

The two are still around -- though forward Marty Havlat was bought out -- but Thornton will no longer serve as the club's captain and Marleau had an alternate tag removed from his jersey.

San Jose is currently a leadership-by-committee group, but a lot of focus will be on Joe Pavelski, who led the Sharks with a career-best 41 goals and 79 points last season.

"It's a game where's there is going to be a lot of emotions going in," Pavelski said of meeting the Kings to start the season. "Everything will be right back out front."

Tomas Hertl is also expected to contribute after notching 15 goals and 25 points in 35 games before suffering a knee injury versus the Kings on Dec. 19 that held him out of action until April 11.

The Sharks saw defenseman Dan Boyle depart as a free agent this offseason and the club didn't make any big moves in free agency, simply signing enforcer John Scott and trading for forward Tye McGinn from the Philadelphia Flyers.

To combat the loss of Boyle, Brent Burns has shifted back to defense from the wing and blueliner Justin Braun inked a five-year extension in mid-September.

Despite their struggles in the playoffs, Antti Niemi and Alex Stalock return to man the goal. While the No. 1 spot appears to still be up for grabs, Niemi is likely to start tonight. He went 2-1-1 in four games versus the Kings last regular season with a 2.67 goals against average and .910 save percentage, but gave up at least three goals in all but one game in the first round.

San Jose expected to be without James Sheppard (left knee surgery) and Tyler Kennedy (undisclosed) for this game due to injury, while Raffi Torres is out long-term because of a knee ailment.

The Kings went 3-1-1 versus the Sharks in 2013-14 and have won the past four regular-season meetings in Los Angeles.