Coach Fletcher’s NHL Free Play
Tuesday, October 7, 2015
7:30 pm San Jose Sharks at Los Angeles Kings
The Pick Los Angeles Kings -155 Pinnacle
The Kings will probably be a little shocked at first to see Martin Jones in the goal for the Sharks. After all, he was a King last year. Jones was a backup to Jonathan Quick for two seasons and was traded to the Sharks in the summer. Jones is expected to start for the Sharks tonight.
As usual, several teams in the league are short-handed at the season’s start. The Kings will be without left win Dwight King who is on injured reserve. Defenseman Mark Greene will probably not play either,
A few players will make their King’s debuts. Christian Ehrhoff and Milan Lucic will be part of the top line for the Kings. Lucic was acquired from the Bruins who got Martin Jones as part of the deal and immediately sent him packing to the Sharks.
The Kings will have a new coach – Peter DeBoer and Joe Pavelski will be the Kings’ captain this year.
The Sharks have won a league best 5 straight season openers. Last year they toppled the Kings 4-0. The Sharks will have a tougher time in this year’s first game. This will be the first of 5 games against the Sharks this season and the Kings are lucky enough to start with 6 straight home games. The Kings’ closed out last season by beating the Sharks in the last game of the year 4-1.
The Kings have lost their last 3 home openers and dropped 5 of their last 6. But with some new faces and especially a new coach, I expect the Kings will be more than ready for this one. The Kings finished their pre-season at 4-1-1 while the Sharks finished 4-2-1. This shows me that the Kings should be both focused under DeBoer and pumped up for a raucous crowd. The Kings should also be quite familiar with Martin Jones’s strengths and weaknesses in the net.
The Pick LA Kings -155 Pinnacle