San Jose Sharks Host Los Angeles Kings Monday

Mon, Mar 22, 2021
By Jim Vassallo (Veri.bet Writer)

The San Jose Sharks (11-14-4)  host the Los Angeles Kings (13-11-6) on Monday, March 22, at 10:30 PM ET. 

The Sharks, seventh in the West Division, play host to the Kings, fifth in the West Division, in NHL action on Monday night in San Jose at the SAP Center at San Jose.

The Kings are led by Anze Kopitar, who has 37 points, which is good for 7th in the league. Kopitar has eight goals and 29 assists coming into this game.

In what has been a much different NHL season, which began in January and only consists of 56 games, teams are only playing their division opponents during the regular season. 

The Sharks and Kings are scheduled to play an eight-game regular-season series and have so far played just two games. The Sharks won the opener 4-3 in a shootout and the Kings won game two 6-2.

These teams will meet again on Wednesday, March 24, and then again four times during the month of April to complete the season series.

The Sharks and the Kings are struggling to keep pace in the West Division, which is being led by the Vegas Golden Knights. The Sharks are 14 points out of first and the Kings are 11 points out of first.

The Kings picked up a much-needed victory over Vegas the last time they were on the ice, 3-1, which snapped a five-game win streak for Vegas. It gave them two points and pulled them to within 11 points of first place. 

Kings’ goalie Cal Petersen made 31 saves in the victory.

“This is huge, and I think it helps us confidence-wise that we can play at this level and beat those kinds of teams,” Petersen said. “I think this is one of our more complete games of the year, and so this should be a good indicator of what we can do and our potential.”

In their last 12 games played, the Kings have lost eight times, so this victory could be a big boost to their morale as the race heats up for the West.

The Sharks come into tonight’s game in the midst of a four-game losing streak. The last time they hit the ice the Sharks suffered a 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues, who continue to fall further behind in the West Division.

St. Louis scored three times in the third period to take the lead en route to the victory. It all went downhill for San Jose when the team was penalized for a faceoff violation.

“It’s ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous,” Sharks head coach Bob Boughner said. “Everybody in the rink including their team, our team, the other linesmen, and refs. It was a brutal, brutal call that turned the whole game around. It’s ridiculous. I haven’t seen that call in I don’t know how long. That one hurts.”

San Jose is favored with a -1.5 spread tonight. However, your better bet is to take the Over 6 total goals as Los Angeles looks to gain more ground in the West.