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It was all downhill for the Los Angeles Kings after they raised the Stanley Cup banner to the rafters on opening night.
The San Jose Sharks ruined the Los Angeles Kings' big night by marching into the Staples Center and doing what they weren't able to do last spring: Finish the Kings off after jumping out to a 3-0 lead.
On a night when the Kings raised their second championship banner it was the Sharks that ended up stealing the show with a convincing 4-0 win. To put that into perspective, the Kings only lost two games all of last season by at least four goals.
No, it's not going to erase the sour memories of losing four straight playoff games and then watching the Kings go on to win the Stanley Cup, but if nothing else the Sharks were at least able to come out of the gate strong to start the 2014-15 season with what had to be a satisfying effort after an offseason of turmoil and uncertainty.
Tommy Wingels was the surprising offensive star for the Sharks, opening the scoring with a rocket of a shot from a terrible angle and then later blowing through the Los Angeles defense to score on a slick breakaway move in the second period.
3 things
1. Brent Burns is still a pretty good defenseman - after spending the past two years as one of the NHL's better power forwards, the Sharks decided to move Burns back to defense this season and he did not seem to miss a beat assisting on two goals playing a rock-solid game defensively over 20 minutes of ice-time.
2. Jonathan Quick did not have a good game - This wasn't the biggest issue for Los Angeles on Wednesday, but their two-time Stanley Cup winning goalie did not have one of his better games and didn't even get to finish it, spending the third period on the bench in favor of backup Martin Jones. The low point of the evening for Quick came late in the second period when he misplayed a puck behind the net and left the net wide open, allowing Matt Nieto to give the Sharks a 4-0 lead. That game just 14 seconds after Tommy Wingels scored his second goal of the game. At the other end of the ice, Antti Niemi recorded his 28th career shutout.
3. Marc-Edouard Vlasic might have made a difference last spring - Everything seemed to go downhill for the San Jose Sharks in last year's playoffs when the defenseman was knocked out of the series due to injury. He was back on opening night and was a one-man wrecking crew for San Jose. Vlasic was on the ice for two San Jose goals, recorded an assist, and was one of their best players in terms of driving possession.
