San Jose Sharks 11, Los Angeles Kings 0 (Game 82)

For their final game of the season, the Sharks (80-1-0) hosted the Los Angeles Kings (32-38-11) in the Shark Tank in San Jose for their sixth meeting of the season. The Sharks are 5-0-0 against the Kings this season, with the closest meeting being their first of the season, which the Sharks won 5-3, and their largest victory being game 73 in Los Angeles, which the Sharks won 12-1. 

​1st Period
The Kings opened the game with a flurry of shots against Evgeni Nabokov, but he shut them all out to keep the score 0-0. Luc Robitaille (LA) then took a roughing penalty against Marco Sturm (SJ) and on the ensuing powerplay Sharks' captain Patrick Marleau fed Marco Sturm a one-timer through the slot to give the Sharks a 1-0 lead. Adam Graves then took a hooking penalty immediately following the goal, but Teemu Selanne (SJ) scored a shorthanded goal on a breakway - his first shorthanded goal of the season. Los Angeles continued to pressure the Sharks, but the Sharks' defense blocked shot after shot until Brad Chartrand (LA) took a roughing penalty to end the Kings' powerplay. 

The Sharks were unable to convert on their second powerplay of the game, and Brad Chartrand (LA) failed to convert on a breakaway but Dan McGillis (SJ) countered with a breakaway of his own and roofed the puck on a backhand shot to extend the Sharks' lead to 3-0 midway through the 1st period. Neither team would score for the remainder of the period, and the Sharks outshot the Kings 13-10 in the period. 

​2nd Period
The Sharks and Kings traded chances early in the 2nd period, but neither team managed to score. Vincent Damphousse (SJ) then took a hooking penalty that saw the Sharks control most of the penalty kill due to sloppy turnovers by the Kings. Teemu Selanne (SJ) then received a pass from Patrick Marleau (SJ) and, after playing keep-away with the Kings, Selanne managed to roof a backhander over the Kings' goaltender that caused Roman Cechmanek to replace him. 

Scott Hannan ((SJ) then scored on a one-timer off of a beautiful assist by Marco Sturm (SJ) to extend the Sharks' lead to 5-0. Later in the period, Adam Graves again failed to convert on a breakaway, but Marco Sturm scored on a backhanded wraparound attempt to give the Sharks a 6-0 lead heading into the 3rd period. Mike Cammalleri (LA) took a hooking penalty to end the period, and despite the deficit in goals, the Kings were outshooting the Sharks 20-18 by the 2nd intermission. 

​3rd Period
​The Sharks started the 3rd period on the powerplay, but it was quickly negated when Alexander Korolyuk (SJ) committed a roughing penalty. The Kings failed to convert on their limited powerplay, and the back and forth action continued until midway through the 3rd period when Scott Thornton (SJ) and Brad Norton (LA) dropped the gloves. Thornton won the fight by TKO, and both players were assessed major penalties. 

After the altercation, Adam Graves (SJ) took a pass off the boards from Evgeni Nabokov (SJ) and broke in alone on Roman Cechmanek (LA), scoring a backhand goal to give the Sharks a 7-0 lead. The Sharks continue to pressure and Alyn McCauley (SJ) scored on a backhand goal of his own to extend the Sharks' lead to 8-0. Lynn Loyns (SJ) added another backhand goal, and Kyle McLaren (SJ) set up Marco Sturm (SJ) for a one-time shot that gave him a hat trick. Sturm later attempted a shot that rebounded off of a Kings' defender and to Patrick Marleau (SJ) who backhanded a shot past Roman Cechmanek (LA) for his 83rd goal of the season. 

The Sharks finished the Kings for their 81st victory of the season. The shots were equal at 30 per team, the faceoffs were equal at 15 per team, the penalties in minutes were equal at 11 per team, and the powerplay opportunities were equal at 3 per team (the Sharks converted on one and the Kings failed to convert). The following players were selected as the three stars of the game: 

3) Teemu Selanne (SJ) registered 2 Goals,  0 Assists and +4
2) Evgeni Nabokov (SJ) registered 30 saves on 30 shots 
1) Marco Sturm (SJ) registered 3 Goals, 2 Assists and +5 

Final Score: 
Los Angeles Kings       0 
San Jose Sharks           11

The Sharks conclude their season with a record of 81-1-0. The Sharks clinch first place in the Western Conference and will face the 8th seed of the Western Conference. The game is scheduled to be broadcast on Thursday, June 5th, 2020 at 7:00PM Pacific Standard Time.