As well as the Sharks have played in this series–and they’ve played pretty damn well–the odds are still decidedly stacked against them and they would be well-served to keep that in mind heading into tonight’s pivotal Game 5 at Staples Center. Both clubs have held serve on home ice, as we probably should have expected given that they combined for a 36-6-6 home record and 16-26-6 road record in the regular season. Unfortunately for the Sharks, the Kings don’t have to notch a victory in enemy territory in order to advance to the conference final.
Particularly if the Red Wings defeat the Blackhawks to move a win away from closing out that series, tonight’s showdown in Los Angeles looks to be one of the most important games in Sharks franchise history. In a season where making the playoffs once felt like a dicey endeavor, the stars are aligning for a serious Cup run if San Jose can manage to make it out of this round alive. It starts tonight against the defending champions.
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Game 5Series tied 2-2
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7:30PM PST | Staples Center | Los Angeles, California
TV: CSNCA-HD, NBCSN | Radio: 98.5 KFOX, SJSharks.com
Know Your Enemy: Jewels From The Crown, Battle Of California, The Royal Half
Projected Sharks Lineup
Patrick Marleau – Logan Couture – Joe Pavelski
T.J. Galiardi – Joe Thornton – Brent Burns
James Sheppard – Scott Gomez – Tommy Wingels
Bracken Kearns – Andrew Desjardins – Tim Kennedy
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun
Matt Irwin – Dan Boyle
Scott Hannan – Brad Stuart
Projected Kings Lineup
Kyle Clifford – Anze Kopitar – Justin Williams
Dustin Penner – Mike Richards – Jeff Carter
Dwight King – Trevor Lewis – Dustin Brown
Brad Richardson – Colin Fraser – Tyler Toffoli
Robyn Regehr – Drew Doughty
Rob Scuderi – Slava Voynov
Jake Muzzin – Matt Greene
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