NBCSN’s coverage of the 2018-19 NHL season continues with Monday night’s matchup between the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks with coverage beginning at 10:30 p.m. ET. You can watch the game online and on the NBC Sports app by clicking here.
Despite still being in the basement of the Pacific Division, there is some room for optimism for the Kings. LA has won six of its last nine games and beaten some good competition along the way, with victories over Winnipeg, San Jose, Vegas and Colorado. Their latest win came on Saturday in a 4-0 drubbing of the Edmonton Oilers.
Anze Kopitar scored his 300th career goal during the Edmonton game and became the fifth player in franchise history to reach that mark, joining Luc Robitaille (557), Marcel Dionne (550), Dave Taylor (431) and Bernie Nicholls (327). Jonathan Quick needed just 16 saves in the shutout, which was also his 300th career win. The Connecticut native is the fifth U.S.-born goalie to reach the 300 wins.
The Sharks had arguably their best win of the season on Saturday in a 5-2 victory over the NHL-leading Tampa Bay Lightning. San Jose’s win snapped Tampa’s winning streak at seven and their point streak at 16. The Sharks became the first team to defeat the Lightning in regulation since Anaheim did so on Nov. 27 (3-1 W). They’ve been red hot since early December, with wins in 11 of their last 16 games (11-3-2).
With two assists on Saturday, Erik Karlsson extended his personal point streak to 12 games (1G, 18A), which is the longest active streak in the NHL. He did miss two games (Dec. 23 and 27) in this stretch due to a suspension from a hit to the head of Kings forward Austin Wagner when these teams last met.
Karlsson is the 21st different defenseman in NHL history to record record at least one point in 12 or more consecutive appearances and just the third to do so in the last 20 years (since 1998-99), joining Mathieu Schneider (Detroit) in 2006 (12 games) and Shayne Gostisbehere (Philadelphia) in 2016 (15 games).
[WATCH LIVE – COVERAGE BEGINS AT 10:30 P.M. ET – NBCSN]
What: Los Angeles Kings at San Jose Sharks
Where: SAP Center
When: Monday, Jan. 7, 10:30 p.m. ET
TV: NBCSN
Live stream: You can watch the Kings-Sharks stream on NBC Sports’ live stream page and the NBC Sports app.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
KINGS
Ilya Kovalchuk - Anze Kopitar - Dustin Brown
Alex Iafallo - Jeff Carter - Brendan Leipsic
Carl Hagelin - Adrian Kempe - Tyler Toffoli
Kyle Clifford - Nate Thompson - Austin Wagner
Derek Forbort - Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin - Sean Walker
Dion Phaneuf - Oscar Fantenberg
Starting goalie: Jack Campbell
SHARKS
Marcus Sorensen - Joe Thornton - Joe Pavelski
Lukas Radil - Logan Couture - Timo Meier
Evander Kane - Tomas Hertl - Joonas Donskoi
Kevin Labanc - Barclay Goodrow - Melker Karlsson
Joakim Ryan - Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon - Erik Karlsson
Jacob Middleton - Tim Heed
Starting goalie: Martin Jones
Alex Faust (play-by-play) and Jamie Baker (‘Inside-the-Glass’ analyst) will call Kings-Sharks from SAP Center at San Jose. Paul Burmeister hosts studio coverage alongside analyst Anson Carter.