Scouting the Sharks

This is the fourth of six meetings this season between the Kings and the San Jose Sharks. It follows the Sharks’ 4-2 win in San Jose on Nov. 7, the Kings’ 2-0 win in Los Angeles on Nov. 28 and the Sharks’ 2-1 shootout win in San Jose on Dec. 23. It’s also the first of three meetings between the teams over the final 10 games of the regular season. The Sharks started March on a wobble, as they started the month with an 0-3-2 record, but the Sharks are 3-1-1 in their last five games, even after last night’s 5-3 loss to Anaheim. The Sharks have been strong on special teams of late, as they have scored five power-play goals in their last five games and allowed only two. Antti Niemi has started 11 consecutive games for the Sharks, but he got pulled in the middle of the second period last night after he allowed Anaheim’s fourth goal. Sharks coach Todd McLellan made wholesale line-combination changes throughout last night’s game, and it’s not known what the Sharks plan to go with tonight. For the latest on the Sharks, check out the coverage from the San Jose Mercury News, followed by the possible lineups for the Kings and the Sharks…

San Jose Mercury News’ Sharks coverage

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KINGS LINEUP
Dustin Brown-Anze Kopitar-Justin Williams
Dwight King-Mike Richards-Jeff Carter
Dustin Penner-Jarret Stoll-Trevor Lewis
Kyle Clifford-Colin Fraser-Jordan Nolan

Rob Scuderi-Drew Doughty
Willie Mitchell-Slava Voynov
Alec Martinez-Matt Greene

Jonathan Quick
Jonathan Bernier

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SHARKS LINEUP
Logan Couture-Joe Thornton-Joe Pavelski
Ryane Clowe-Patrick Marleau-Martin Havlat
Daniel Winnik-Dominic Moore-Torrey Mitchell
Brad Winchester-Andrew Desjardins-Benn Ferriero

Dan Boyle-Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Brent Burns-Douglas Murray
Jason Demers-Justin Braun

Antti Niemi
Thomas Greiss