Two teams coming off disappointing seasons meet in what has been one of the best rivalries in the NHL over the past few years. The Sharks made a few key additions over the offseason in Martin Jones, Paul Martin and Joel Ward while the Kings added Milan Lucic, just in case you were worried they were becoming likable.

This is the second season in a row the Sharks and Kings have opened things up at Staples Center. Thankfully this one will feature less banner hanging. San Jose only plays at Staples Center once more during the regular season — the next three games between the teams will be at SAP Center.

The Sharks roster stands at 22 players. Melker Karlsson is with the Barracuda and Raffi Torres is not on the roster.

Other than Mike Brown (probably) weaseling his way into the lineup, this is a strong four lines. Now we'll see how players like Joonas Donskoi do when the games matter.

Tale Of The Tape

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7:30PM PDT | Staples Center | Los Angeles
TV: NBCSN | Radio: SJSharks.com, 98.5 KFOX
Know Your Enemy: Jewels From The Crown

Projected Sharks Lineup

Joonas Donskoi – Joe Thornton – Joe Pavelski

Patrick Marleau – Logan Couture – Joel Ward

Matt Nieto – Tomas Hertl – Tommy Wingels

Barclay Goodrow – Chris Tierney – Mike Brown

Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun

Paul Martin – Brent Burns

Brenden Dillon – Matt Tennyson

Martin Jones

Alex Stalock

Projected Kings Lines

Milan Lucic – Anze Kopitar – Marian Gaborik

Tanner Pearson – Jeff Carter – Tyler Toffoli

Dustin Brown – Nick Shore – Trevor Lewis

Kyle Clifford – Andy Andreoff – Jordan Nolan

Jake Muzzin – Drew Doughty

Jeff Schultz – Christian Ehrhoff

Brayden McNabb – Alec Martinez

Jonathan Quick

Jhonas Enroth

Last Meeting

The Sharks lost 4-1 in a game neither team was all that interested in playing. It was the final game of the regular season and both teams were already eliminated from playoff contention.

Storylines

• Martin Jones gets his first regular season start for the Sharks — and it comes against his former club.
• How will Joonas Donskoi handle the pressure of playing on the top line?
• Will we see the same dynamic play from the third line that we saw in preseason?
• Will Milan Lucic try to murder someone tonight?/