BEIJING -- Recovering from Thursday's relatively moderate reception in Shanghai, the matchup Saturday night between the Los Angeles Kings and the Vancouver Canucks here -- the second leg of the NHL's first preseason games in China, and a 4-3 shootout win for the Kings -- witnessed a much stronger welcome from a city bracing for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
The attendance of 12,759 in Beijing -- a northern city with a solid base for hockey and other winter sports -- was only a mild uptick from 10,088 in the cosmopolitan Shanghai, but the contrast in fan engagement was rather stark.