Champion LA Kings Fall To Sharks 4-0 In Season Opener
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The Los Angeles Kings took to the ice at Staples Center for the first time of the 2014-15 regular season and raised their Stanley Cup Championship banner high.
Similar to the start of their 2013-14 campaign, the Kings were blanked, 4-0, to open the season.
Before the game, the Kings celebrated their second Stanley Cup title in three years with a ceremony to commemorate their memorable postseason run.
Antti Niemi recorded 34 saves to complete the 28th shutout of his career.
The first goal was scored by Tommy Wingels, with assists by Tye McGinn and Jason Demers, 5:43 into the first period.
The second period was something of a nightmare for the Kings, who gave up three more goals.
The first of these came off a power play, in which Patrick Marleau took advantage, with assists from Brent Burns and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. That goal came 3:20 into the period, but the Sharks were far from done.
Wingels got another one past Jonathan Quick at the 15:50 mark to make it 3-0, all of 14 seconds before Matt Nieto scored his first goal of the season.
"You can't come out like that against a hockey club of this caliber," defenseman Alec Martinez said after the game.
One of only two newcomers to the Kings, defenseman Brayden McNabb, made his debut in place of the injured Jake Muzzin. McNabb came to LA from Buffalo during the offseason.
The Kings now take to the road for a quick trip to take on the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday, before returning to home ice for a six-game homestand.
