NHL Playoffs 2016: Los Angeles Kings Will Face San Jose Sharks In First Round

Now that the NHL Playoffs 2016 are ready to go, the first round will feature a heated clash between LA and San Jose.

With the Anaheim Ducks coming away with the Pacific Division, the Los Angeles Kings had a switch in their first round opponent as a result.

Now that the Ducks can claim the division again, the Kings will play the San Jose Sharks instead of the Nashville Predators, who now will square up with Anaheim.

San Jose owns the season series between the two clubs, winning three of the five contests overall. The majority of the games played in this rivalry were lopsided with the exception of their late January meeting in which Los Angeles escaped with a 3-2 win in overtime.

The other games ended in tallies 5-1, 4-1, 5-3, and 5-2, showing that neither team is afraid to score a lot of goals if that’s what it takes to get a win.

Overcoming this kind of mismatch will tell us a lot about whether or not the Los Angeles Kings are legitimate or not.

One thing that’s worth mentioning when previewing this series with previous meetings in the postseason is that Los Angeles has prevailed when needing to come from behind, whereas San Jose’s flaws are best exposed under pressure.

It’s been just two seasons since the Kings came back in historic fashion following a 3-0 series lead by the Sharks that went up in smoke en route to Los Angeles winning the Stanley Cup that year.

Neither the Sharks nor the Kings got to the playoffs a year ago, so that really gave this clash more time to heat up for another instant classic.

The most intriguing thing about this series, though, has to do with the battle between the two goalies involved. This time around, Jonathan Quick and Martin Jones won’t be helping each other out, but instead trying to get the best of the other person.

Quick and Jones were a solid goalie combination in Los Angeles, especially in the postseason when the Kings needed a rain check at the goalie position.

This has to be one of the best opportunities for Jones to showcase what he’s made of, while it’s going to be a series where the Sharks will do all that they can to get in the head of Jonathan Quick — even if that means changing their offensive tempo completely.

Los Angeles’ Drew Doughty will have plenty of work cut out for him since he’ll be assigned San Jose’s Joe Thornton on the defensive end, while Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar don’t have a choice but to step up if the Kings wish to advance.

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Should Los Angeles get to the second round and the Ducks get the best of Nashville, the second round series between the Ducks and Kings could prove to be one of the most intense in recent memory.