The San Jose Sharks hopped a plane this morning and headed to Los Angeles for the second game in as many nights. This is a very important game for the Sharks because the team has a chance to move up in the standings, and while it’s still early in the season by playoff standards, it’s points like these that matter most.
The Los Angeles Kings are just above the Sharks in the wild card race, and getting two points in regulation would go a long way for the Sharks.
This is the third and final meeting of the regular season between the two teams. The Kings won the first one in regulation, a 4-3 victory on Oct. 28. The Sharks won the second meeting by the same score in a shootout on Nov. 20. This one is the rubber match between the Pacific Division rivals.
The Sharks will face a depleted Kings roster. Anze Kopitar, Joel Armia and Trevor Moore are all out because of injury. Corey Perry is away from the team because of a family illness. What’s more, the last time these two teams played, the Kings had shut-down centerman Phillip Danault. Danault has since been traded. That could mean good news for Macklin Celebrini and his linemates William Eklund and Igor Chernyshov.
The Kings have recalled Andre Lee and Taylor Ward from the Ontario Reign to fill the gaps. Lee has 15 goals and 27 points this season in the AHL. Ward has 12 AHL goals this season, third on the Reign. Both players are expected to make their NHL season debuts tonight.
Adrian Kempe leads the team with 34 points in 41 games. He and Kevin Fiala share the team lead in goals with 15 apiece. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper is the team’s starting goaltender with a 12-7-6 record and a .912 save percentage. He had his “best performance of the season,” according to the Kings’ website, when he stopped 33 of 35 on Monday night and beat the Minnesota Wild.
San Jose Sharks lines tonight
This is the second night of back-to-back games, but there aren’t many options for the Sharks on defense, so we don’t expect many changes on the backend. Up front, things are working well, so Head Coach Ryan Warsofsky isn’t likely to change things. Forgot about Ty Dellandrea’s injury, look for Adam Gaudette to likely make his return to the lineup. Since Alex Nedeljkovic started last night, look for Yaroslav Askarov to start tonight.
Forwards
William Eklund — Macklin Celebrini — Igor Chernyshov
Pavol Regenda — Alexander Wennberg — Tyler Toffoli
Jeff Skinner — Ty Dellandrea Adam Gaudette — Collin Graf
Barclay Goodrow — Zack Ostapchuk — Ryan Reaves
Defense
Dmitry Orlov — Timothy Liljegren
Mario Ferraro — Vincent Iorio
Sam Dickinson — Nick Leddy
Goaltenders
Yaroslav Askarov
Alex Nedeljkovic
Los Angeles Kings lines vs. San Jose Sharks
Here’s what NHL.com reports the lines are likely to look like tonight against the Sharks. It looks like with all the injuries up front, the Kings might go with 11 forwards and 7 defensemen against the Sharks.
Forwards
Taylor Ward — Alex Laferriere — Adrian Kempe
Warren Foegele — Quinton Byfield — Jeff Malott
Kevin Fiala — Alex Turcotte — Andrei Kuzmenko
Samuel Helenius — Andre Lee
Defense
Mikey Anderson — Drew Doughty
Joel Edmundson — Brandt Clarke
Brian Dumoulin — Cody Ceci
Jacob Moverare
Goaltenders
Darcy Kuemper
Anton Forsberg
How to watch San Jose Sharks at Los Angeles Kings Jan. 7, 2026
The puck drops at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles at 7:30 p.m. PT.
Sharks fans can watch today’s game on NBCSCA or listen on the Sharks Audio Network.
Kings fans can watch the game on FanDuel Sports Network or listen on ESPN LA 710.
Be sure to come back here at game time to join other Sharks fans in talking about what’s happening on the ice and around the league.
