Primed and ready to make another run at the Stanley Cup after missing the playoffs last season, the LA Kings sputtered out of the gate in a sloppy 5-1 loss to the rival San Jose Sharks in their NHL Season opener at Staples Center on Wednesday.
"It was definitely not the game that we drew up and our special teams were not good," said Kings forward Anze Kopitar. "We just talked about them but we didn't execute them, we didn't play the way we should it was very sloppy."
Things started off great for the two-time Stanley Cup champions when Nick Shore scored less than two minutes into the game. Kings captain, Dustin Brown, blasted a shot on goal from just inside the blue line and Shore was just able to get his stick on it, redirecting it past former Kings goalie, Martin Jones.
"I've been scored on before, but it's obviously not the way you want to start a game," Jones said of Shore's goal. "We showed a lot of character as group by not letting that spiral. We did a great job coming back from that."
Shore's goal was the second fastest goal in a Kings' home opener in the history of the franchise, but it would all go downhill for LA after that.
The Sharks scored five unanswered goals routing their rivals over the final three periods. Joe Pavelski led San Jose with a goal and two assists. Joe Thornton and Brent Burns each had a goal and an assist as well.
Thomas Herti and Joonas Donskoi also scored for the Sharks as they started the season off with a dominant victory over their California rivals in new coach Peter DeBoer's debut.
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"The game tonight was a culmination of a month of hard work," DeBoer said. "Tonight we played like we're going to have to play, four lines, six defensemen, great goaltending, and great special teams. It's nice, we just have to keep replicating the game."
Pavelski was phenomenal in his first game since having the "C" for captain added to his jersey this season. Pavelski could not be stopped as his line was outstanding throughout the night, winning their second straight season opener at Staples Center.
"We put the puck in good spots all night where we had a good chance to get back or good chances to get on the forecheck and create pressure," Pavelski said. "It's game one. Great job by the guys and there's a lot of good things we can take from it."
Jones was stellar in net against his former team, stopping 19 of 20 shots for his first win with San Jose. His counterpart, and former teammate, Jonathan Quick made 27 saves, but allowed five goals in his first loss of the season.
"It was a little strange coming back to this building," Jones said of facing his former team. "I was trying to approach it like every other game. I waited a long time for this game and we got a good result."
The game was chippy between both clubs from the start as Kyle Clifford and Mike Brown both received five-minute majors for fighting in the first period.
Dustin Brown leveled Logan Couture with a hit that would be illegal by NFL standards, but was not whistled for a penalty, much to the chagrin of Couture.
"He launched his head into my face," a frustrated Couture said. "I've seen the replay already, so I'm going to keep my comments to myself and see what happened."
Couture exacted some revenge in the waning minutes of the game when he took out the legs of Milan Lucic when he wasn't looking. Lucic immediately got up and skated towards the Sharks bench where he elbowed Couture, and was whistled for the penalty.
"I finished my check. I didn't think he was angry, but obviously he took exception to that and went after me," Couture said of the late altercation with Lucic. "I didn't think he was going to come after me, he got his elbow right to the side of my head."
Sophomore center, Andy Andreoff, went toe-to-toe with Barclay Goodrow, in what would prove to be the Kings only victory of the night as Andreoff got multiple punches in before taking Goodrow to the ice.
Both teams came into the game unusually rested, after each team missed the playoffs despite making it the three seasons prior. The Kings retooled, but did not rebuild, cutting ties with Jarret Stoll, Slava Voynov and Mike Richards in the offseason, while adding Milan Lucic, Christian Ehrhoff and Jhonas Enroth.
Game Notes:
Pat Conacher scored the fastest goal in a King's home opener when he found the back of the net 30 seconds into the first period on Oct. 7, 1995 vs. Colorado Avalanche.
