The Kings–Sharks rivalry is a National Hockey League (NHL) rivalry between the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks. The two teams have played in the same division ever since the Sharks began play in the 1991–92 season. They were in the Smythe Division from 1991 to 1993 and have been in the Pacific Division ever since. This rivalry stems from the fact that both teams are located in the state of California, as well as the other professional sports rivalries between Greater Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, namely Dodgers–Giants, 49ers–Rams, Lakers–Warriors, and Earthquakes–Galaxy. The rivalry reached a boiling point in the early-to-mid 2010s, with Los Angeles and San Jose meeting in the playoffs four times in a span of six years, as well as one of the two teams appearing in six of seven conference finals from 2010 to 2016.
Early history From 1991 to April 4, 2011, San Jose won 59 games and Los Angeles won 50 games. They tied seven times, all prior to the 2004–05 NHL lockout (when the league implemented shootouts as tie-breakers after scoreless overtime periods in the regular season).
A notable early moment in the rivalry came late during the 1993–94 season, when all three California teams – the Kings (who had gone to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final), Sharks (then in only their third year of existence), and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (then in their inaugural season) – battled for the eighth and final playoff spot in the newly-renamed Western Conference. Moreover, the Kings' superstar captain, Wayne Gretzky, was chasing the all-time NHL career goals record of 801 held by his idol, Gordie Howe. On March 20, 1994, during the first period of a Kings–Sharks game in San Jose, Gretzky scored the 800th goal of his career by stealing the puck from Sharks defenseman Sandis Ozolins and backhanding it through the legs of goaltender Arturs Irbe. Later, with the Sharks leading 6–5 in the final minute of the game, Gretzky jammed a rebound past Irbe for his second goal of the contest and the 801st of his career, tying Howe for the most career goals and the game at 6–6. The game would end as a 6–6 tie. On April 2, the Sharks' 7–4 victory over the Vancouver Canucks, combined with a 5–3 Kings loss to the Edmonton Oilers, eliminated the Kings from playoff contention. Three days later, the Sharks defeated the Kings 2–1 in Los Angeles to officially clinch their first-ever playoff berth.
2010–present
2011: First playoff meeting The rivalry heated up in 2010–11, with the Kings and Sharks meeting in the playoffs for the first time in history. The Sharks won the Pacific Division title and earned the second seed in the Western Conference, while the Kings earned the seventh seed. The series began at the HP Pavilion at San Jose. Left winger Dany Heatley and center Logan Couture scored in regulation for San Jose, while right wingers Dustin Brown and Justin Williams scored for Los Angeles. The game went to overtime, which Joe Pavelski scored to give San Jose a 1–0 series lead. The Kings rebounded in game two with a 4–0 win. Defenseman Drew Doughty had four points in the game, two of which were goals. He assisted on Jack Johnson and Kyle Clifford's goals.
The series shifted to the Staples Center in Los Angeles for game three. The Kings got off to a blazing start as they were up 4–0 in a game for the second consecutive game. Willie Mitchell, Kyle Clifford, Michal Handzus, and Brad Richardson scored the goals. Sharks' coach Todd McLellan decided to yank goaltender Antti Niemi and replace him with backup Antero Niittymäki. This seemed to spark San Jose as they fired home three unanswered goals scored by Patrick Marleau, Ryane Clowe, and Logan Couture. With the game suddenly close, Ryan Smyth scored for the Kings to make it 5–3. However, the Sharks came up with goals from both Clowe and Pavelski to tie the game at five before the second intermission. There was no scoring in the third period thus the game went to overtime. Devin Setoguchi scored his second of the game in the extra session to complete San Jose's miraculous comeback, giving his team a 6–5 victory in the game and a 2–1 lead in the series. The Sharks were able to duplicate their success in game four, this time winning in a more convincing fashion; they won 6–3, with Ryane Clowe scoring two goals in the victory and Niemi making 35 saves after a rough outing in game three.
The Sharks looked to close out the series at home in game five; Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick stopped that from happening, as he made 51 saves in a 3–1 victory to send the series back to Southern California for game six. Kyle Clifford, Wayne Simmonds, and Dustin Penner scored the goals for the Kings. In game six, the Kings looked to stave off elimination once more and force a seventh game in San Jose while the Sharks once again looked to close out the series. The two teams alternated goals in regulation until it was 3–3, with San Jose scoring first. Kyle Wellwood, Jason Demers, and Dany Heatley scored for the Sharks, while Justin Williams, Ryan Smyth, and Trevor Lewis scored for the Kings. Joe Thornton scored in overtime for San Jose, winning the game 4–3 and the series 4–2 to advance to the Western Conference semifinals. San Jose would be defeated by the Vancouver Canucks in the Western Conference finals.
2013: Kings get revenge Los Angeles and San Jose met in the conference semifinals of the 2013 playoffs as the West's fifth and sixth seeds, respectively. Los Angeles was coming off a victory over the fourth-seeded St. Louis Blues in six games while San Jose completed a series sweep of the third-seeded Vancouver Canucks. The Kings were in the midst of an attempt to defend their 2012 Cup victory while the Sharks were looking to advance to the conference finals for the fourth time in franchise history.
The first game saw Jonathan Quick make 35 saves in a 2–0 shutout of San Jose. Mike Richards and Slava Voynov scored the only two goals of the game. The Kings jumped out to a 2–0 lead in game two, but this time San Jose answered. Marleau and Brad Stuart scored to tie the game, while Marc-Édouard Vlasic gave the Sharks the lead with 11:04 left in the game. However, the Sharks later received two penalties in the game. Stuart was penalized for tripping, and Vlasic was penalized for delay-of-game. The Kings took full advantage of the penalties; Dustin Brown tied the game at three on the five-on-three power play, and Trevor Lewis scored on a rebound off a Tyler Toffoli shot to win the game for the Kings 4–3 in regulation, giving them a 2–0 series lead heading up north.
San Jose got off to a fast start in game three on home ice, as veteran Dan Boyle scored two minutes into the game to give his team the 1–0 lead. However, the Kings capitalized on a Sharks' defensive zone turnover, tying the game on a goal by Toffoli. The game went to overtime, tied 1–1. A pair of penalties was called on the Kings this time. Robyn Regehr and Trevor Lewis were the penalized players. Logan Couture scored on the five-on-three advantage to give San Jose a 2–1 victory and cut the Kings' series lead in half. The final score was the same in game four – although not in overtime – drawing the Sharks even in the series. Brent Burns and Logan Couture scored for San Jose, while Mike Richards scored for Los Angeles. Sharks goaltender Antti Niemi stopped 22 of 23 shots, with 13 of his saves coming in the third period alone.
With the series tied 2–2, the teams went back to the Staples Center. The Sharks had all the momentum in game five, but the Kings took it from them. Los Angeles won game five by a score of 3–0. Anže Kopitar and Slava Voynov scored the first two goals, then Jeff Carter added an empty-net goal. Quick stopped all 24 shots he faced in the game. Just like the previous two games of the series in San Jose, the Sharks won 2–1 at home. Joe Thornton scored on a five-on-three in the first period and then TJ Galiardi scored in the second period. Dustin Brown scored Los Angeles' only goal.
For the first time in history, Los Angeles and San Jose were playing a seventh game against each other. Justin Williams scored both goals for the Kings in a 2–1 victory, and Dan Boyle scored the only goal for San Jose. This meant that the home team won every game in the series, additionally, as the home team won every game in their four-game regular season series, the home team won all 11 games that season. Los Angeles continued their quest for a Stanley Cup repeat to the Western Conference finals, but were ousted by the President's Trophy-winning Chicago Blackhawks in five games.
2014: Kings complete 3–0 comeback In the 2013–14 season, San Jose and Los Angeles finished second and third in the Pacific Division, respectively. With the new playoff format in place, this set up the second consecutive and third overall meeting between the two California rivals.
Game one was at the SAP Center. Joe Thornton got things started for the home team by scoring the first goal of the game. In the final minute of the first period, Tomáš Hertl and Patrick Marleau scored 48 seconds apart to give the Sharks a 3–0 lead after just 20 minutes of play. Fourth-liner Raffi Torres and defenseman Marc-Édouard Vlasic tallied the next two goals to make it 5–0 San Jose. This prompted Los Angeles' coach Darryl Sutter to replace Jonathan Quick with backup goaltender Martin Jones. Coach Sutter's team seemed to be sparked by that move, as they got three unanswered goals from Jake Muzzin, Slava Voynov, and Trevor Lewis to make it 5–3. However, their comeback effort proved unsuccessful, as Brent Burns added an empty net goal for San Jose to give them a 6–3 win and a 1–0 series lead. Game two ended up even more lopsided. Although Los Angeles jumped to a 2–0 first period lead after goals from Muzzin and Lewis, San Jose blazed to a lead. Mike Brown and Raffi Torres netted goals to tie the game. San Jose then got five unanswered goals from Justin Braun, Patrick Marleau, Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, and Joe Thornton. It was only the third time in 26 total attempts that the Sharks overcame a two-goal deficit in a playoff game. Goaltender Antti Niemi made 24 saves, while his counterpart Quick made 33 saves (albeit he gave up seven goals).
Back in Los Angeles for game three, Marleau scored to overtime game winner to give San Jose a commanding 3–0 series lead and a chance to sweep their rivals. It was do or die for the Kings, who faced the possibility of being swept on home ice. Game four started nip and tuck, as Los Angeles and San Jose traded goals to start the first and second periods. Marián Gáborík opened the scoring, then James Sheppard tied the game for the Sharks. Justin Williams scored on the power play to give the Kings the lead, then Matt Nieto scored to tie the game once more. Los Angeles then blazed to a 5–2 lead with second period goals from Williams and Tyler Toffoli followed by Gáborík's second goal 34 seconds into the third period. Joe Pavelski pulled the Sharks to within two later on, but Dustin Brown scored an empty net goal to help Los Angeles double up San Jose 6–3. Jonathan Quick turned in a 36-save performance, while Niemi got chased out of goal after Gáborík's 5–2 goal.