Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Drew Doughty admits Kings want to spoil Sharks’ playoffs chances

Edmonton Oilers v Los Angeles Kings

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 02: Drew Doughty #8, Jonathan Quick #32, and Dustin Penner #25 of the Los Angeles Kings celebrate a 2-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers at Staples Center on April 2, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

Getty Images

For all the criticism the NHL’s schedule receives, the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks’ home-and-home finale is a slice of brilliance. Kings defenseman Drew Doughty told CSNBayArea.com’s Kevin Kurz that the team would like nothing more than to spoil San Jose’s seemingly solid playoff chances during this duo of duels.

“We definitely want to do whatever we can to knock them out of the playoff picture,” Doughty said. “We want third place, and that’s what we’re going to play for. These two games mean a lot, not only for third place but just being able to push a team like that out of the playoffs is a big momentum boost for us.”

As Doughty points out, spite isn’t necessarily the main fuel driving the Kings. Much like the Sharks, two regulation losses and two Dallas Stars wins could boot them out of the postseason altogether. Getting a point would safeguard Los Angeles from such a fate, yet Jonathan Quick wants the team to set its goals higher.

“We have to prepare for tomorrow and get ready to get two points. We can’t be satisfied with just getting one point and getting in, we want to keep moving up. We want to win the division, and get that home ice.”

The Sharks are the most home-dependent of the Pacific contenders, but there’s no doubt that all of the contenders could benefit greatly from winning the third seed. The biggest difference is that Los Angeles holds tiebreaker advantages over San Jose and Phoenix, meaning that it has the most control of the race - even beyond the potential to knock the hated Sharks out of the playoffs