The Anaheim Ducks are the only Californian NHL team in a playoff spot at the moment, but the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks are in the battle for a wild-card spot. Could the rebuilding Sharks pass the Kings?
As the NHL regular season draws to a close, the battle for the second wild-card spot in the West is coming down to a few teams.
Two of them – the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks – are trying to join their California rival, the Anaheim Ducks, in a playoff spot.
Ahead of Wednesday's results, the Kings sit one point behind the Nashville Predators for the wild-card spot with a game in hand. The Sharks, which play Wednesday, are three points behind Nashville with two games in hand.
So after last year, when the Kings were the only Californian NHL team in a playoff spot and continued their four-year post-season streak, they're not only at risk of missing out but even of finishing third among the three squads in the state.
In the big picture, there's a different type of battle at play between the Sharks and Kings.
The ascendant Sharks are on the verge of overtaking the Kings and challenging the Ducks for hockey supremacy in California in the next generation.
This isn't to say the Kings are on the verge of flatlining for the next decade. They've got players – including star wingers Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala – who are going to be excellent for the foreseeable future. And Kings GM Ken Holland's addition of veteran star left winger Artemi Panarin has panned out about as well as could be hoped, as he's posted 23 points in 21 games since coming over from the New York Rangers.
But ask yourself this – if you had to pick either the Kings roster or the Sharks roster for the next 10 years, which one would you choose?
The Sharks roster looks more enticing at this stage. They have legitimate generational players in budding stars Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith and Michael Misa, in a way Los Angeles does not.
Really, it's not even a question of what team has the better long-term picture.
Sharks GM Mike Grier has done a masterful full rebuild with his team, while Holland has taken a more patchwork approach to keeping the Kings relevant at the end of the Anze Kopitar Era.
There's a sense of inevitability when it comes to San Jose leapfrogging L.A., and it's the Kings' job to put off that move as long as possible.
So that's partially what the Kings are trying to fight against the rest of this season.
Given that both teams have relatively easy remainders of their schedule, per tankathon.com, there's no excuse for either side not to put their best foot forward and push their playoff rivals right to their final game to lock up the last wild-card spot.
The Kings have had the better defense than the Sharks this year, with a 2.95 goals-against average compared to San Jose's 3.53.
But the Sharks' 3.03 goals-for per game is better than the Kings' 2.68. So we're talking about two teams that win games in vastly different ways.
That said, with the way the Sharks have emerged this season, it's only a matter of time before they leave the Kings in the dust.
There have been many lean years of late in San Jose and Anaheim, but those days are coming to an end – and the opposite is at risk of being true for the Kings. In the games that remain this season, the Kings have the opportunity to kick the can down the road and stay relevant for at least this spring.
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