These opening night shindigs against San Jose rarely go the Kings’ way. There was the 4-0 spanking that put a damper on their 2014 banner-raising ceremony. The following season saw another drubbing from the Sharks on opening night, this time a 5-1 result that foreshadowed their eventual fall against San Jose in the first round of the playoffs. The next year was a slightly more competitive affair, but they failed to spoil the Sharks’ opening night festivities, falling 2-1 in San Jose.
So with the Kings failing to win a single game in the pre-season and generally looking out of sync throughout, it is safe to say expectations were not high they would break their opening night losing streak against a loaded Sharks team.