On December 23, San Jose hosted Los Angeles for the rivals’ third and most recent meeting this season. The 2-0 victory was one of the team’s most physical, grueling wins on the year — a sure sign that a Dustin Brown-led team was in the building. The teams’ first meeting, a 4-1 victory for the Kings just two games into the season, sparked a blueline change: Joakim Ryan and Tim Heed replaced Paul Martin and Dylan DeMelo in the lineup for the next 10+ games. The teams’ second game, a 2-1 San Jose victory that needed a Joel Ward off-the-skate redirect to claim the win, saw the Sharks go 0-4 on their power play and was a likely catalyst behind some of the changes to the man advantage we saw manifest themselves during the Bruins game later that week.
Sharks 4, Kings 1: Donskoi, lineup changes help Sharks defeat rivals
