Kings on lookout for motivated Sharks

It won’t be a happy bunch of San Jose Sharks arriving at Staples Center. Last night, with a chance to move into first place in the Pacific Division, the Sharks instead fell to 10th place in the Western Conference as they took an early lead but lost to the Anaheim Ducks 5-3. After the game, coach Todd McLellan and the players were clearly unhappy with the effort, and it’s fair to assume that the Sharks will be looking to take that frustration out on the Kings. Mike Richards said he’s aware that the Sharks will likely come out motivated…

RICHARDS: `Both teams are going to play as well as they can. I think we’re excited. You can feel it in here, that we’re excited for the game tonight. I’m sure they’re going to be ready for it too. We have to be ready for the way they’re going to come out, because obviously they lost a big game last night, but as long as we’re ready to play, and expect the best out of ourselves, we should be fine.”

Darryl Sutter didn’t put much stock in the “motivated Sharks” theory…

SUTTER: “Both should have the same motivation.”

Sutter was asked for his thoughts on the Sharks’ game last night…

SUTTER: “Well, they’re used to being a dominant home-ice team. I’m sure they thought, with their start last night, that’s how they were going to be. They were getting lots of chances early, then they probably loosened up a little.”