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The San Jose Sharks are out for revenge in the opening round of the playoffs, as they attempt to knock out the team that eliminated them from last springs postseason. The Sharks have home-ice advantage this time against the Los Angeles Kings, who are visiting the SAP Center for Thursdays Game 1 battle between the Pacific Division rivals. This marks the third all-time playoff meeting between these clubs and second in a row. The Kings gutted out a low-scoring seven-game victory in last seasons second round, one that left the franchise spent ahead of a five-game loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in the conference finals. San Jose lost the first two games of last years playoff matchup versus Los Angeles before rallying to get back into the set. The Sharks defeated L.A. in six games in the 2011 conference quarterfinals. That was the last time the Kings, who won the franchises first Stanley Cup title in 2012, were knocked out in the first round. These California rivals played a close five-game season series in 2013-14, with the Kings owning a 3-1-1 edge. The teams combined for just 21 goals and skated in four games decided by a single goal. Kings netminder Jonathan Quick won both of his games this season versus the Sharks, giving up just three goals, and is 11-4-5 versus them in the regular season lifetime as well as 6-7 in the playoffs with a 2.25 goals against average and three shutouts. Quick, the 2012 Conn Smythe winner, has excellent career playoff numbers, going 29-21 with a .929 save percentage and 2.03 in 50 lifetime postseason appearances. Like Quick, the Sharks boast a goaltender with a Stanley Cup-winning resume in Antti Niemi, who won a title with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010. However, the 30-year-old Finn was less impressive in his first two appearances in the playoffs with the Sharks before a solid run in 2013. Niemi went 7-4 with a 1.87 goals against average and .930 save percentage lasts spring as the Sharks swept their first-round series before a tight seven-game loss to the Kings. San Joses No. 1 has had his struggles down the stretch this season, perhaps the result of having played in 64 games, and hell have backup Alex Stalock hovering over his shoulder. Niemi went 2-1-1 with a 2.67 GAA in this seasons series, while Stalock lost his only start despite giving up just one goal. Niemi is 6-6 in the playoffs against the Kings with a 2.74 GAA and .897 save percentage. Although Sharks head coach Todd McLellan would not officially reveal his starter for Game 1, all signs point to Niemi getting the call over Stalock. Both the Kings and Sharks are deep at both ends of the ice, but L.A. uses its depth more for defense than offense. The Kings allowed an NHL-best 2.05 goals per game this season, but were ranked 26th in offense (2.42 gpg). San Jose had a balanced attack, placing fifth in the league with 2.35 goals against per contest while tying St. Louis for sixth in scoring (2.92 gpg). Both teams enter this playoff battle without many injuries to note. Kings No. 1 defenseman Drew Doughty is dealing with a bruised left shoulder, but he expects to play in Game 1. The Sharks, meanwhile, saw forward Tomas Hertl return late in the regular season from a knee injury. Hertl missed over three months of action and 45 games after L.A. captain Dustin Brown delivered a knee-on-knee hit on the Czech rookie. Hertl had 15 goals and 10 assists in 37 games this season and is hoping to prove himself in his first NHL postseason. San Jose was 29-7-5 as the home team this season and will host Game 2 on Sunday. The Kings were 23-14-4 as the visiting club in 2013-14. Projected Kings Lines Gaborik - Kopitar - WilliamsKing - Richards - CarterToffoli - Stoll - BrownClifford - Lewis - Nolan Muzzin - DoughtyRegehr - VoynovMitchell - Martinez Projected Sharks Lines Pavelski - Thornton - BurnsMarleau - Couture - NietoHertl - Sheppard - WingelsTorres - Desjardins - Havlat Vlasic - DemersStuart - BraunHannan - Boyle Cheap Curry Shoes . Will Venable and Ryan Ludwick drove in a run each for the Padres, who have taken six of their last seven contests and clinched their third straight series win after winning the first two in this set. Clayton Richard (4-9) allowed five hits and a pair of runs over seven innings, while fanning five. Stephen Curry Shoes Wholesale . Ferrer will play Mikhail Youzhny on Sunday after he defeated Dmitry Tursunov 6-2, 6-4 in an all-Russian semifinal. "Youzhny is a good player," Ferrer said. http://www.cheapcurryshoes.net/ .Y. -- It was as if Matt Moulson never left the New York Islanders. Stephen Curry Shoes Online Store . The Senators will put the busy off-season and training camp behind them when they open their regular season on the road. They kick things off Friday against the Buffalo Sabres and then head to Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs on Saturday. Buy Curry Shoes Online . HEROES Alex Ovechkin – Scored a pair of goals in Washington’s 4-0 win over Pittsburgh. With 13 goals in the past 13 games, Ovechkin now has 29 goals on the season to lead the league.OAKLAND, Calif. - The Oakland Athletics are in sole possession of first place in the AL West for the first time in more than a month. Its just not that big of a deal to Josh Donaldson. Donaldson had three hits, including a two-run homer in the sixth inning, and the As beat the Houston Astros 7-5 on Friday night to jump ahead of Texas in the division. Jed Lowrie added two hits and two RBIs for Oakland, which has won six of eight. Yoenis Cespedes and Nate Freiman had two hits apiece. The As grabbed a half-game lead over the Rangers, who lost 6-5 at the Los Angeles Angels. But it was around this time last year that Oakland began its late push to overtake Texas for the division crown. "It doesnt matter until the end of the season, we know that too well," Donaldson said. "Were really not trying to focus on it right now. Were trying to take care of our business." A.J. Griffin (13-9) gave up four runs over six innings but matched his career high of nine strikeouts to win his third straight decision. Matt Dominguez drove in a pair of runs for Houston after sitting out the past three games with a sinus infection. The As trailed 3-1 and 4-3 before scoring twice in the fourth on Lowries RBI single and a groundout by Cespedes. Donaldson doubled and scored in the third, and then singled and scored in the fourth. But his big blow came in the sixth, a towering drive to centre against reliever Phil Humber that gave Oakland a 7-4 lead. Donaldson went 3 for 5 and is batting .349 with two homers and nine RBIs in 17 games this season against major league-worst Houston (47-94). Eight of the As nine starters had at least one hit, and five different players drove in runs. "That shows that we have multiple ways that we can score runs," Donaldson said. "Thats what it takes. If youre going to score seven, eight runs, its not all the time going to come by the long ball. Its going to come by guys manufacturing and having good approaches at the plate." Sean Doolittle and Ryan Cook combined to retire six batters, and Grant Balfour worked the ninth for his 37th save. The Astros, who had won three of the previous four games in the season series, got the tying run on base in the ninth after an error by second baseman Eric Sogard allowed Jonathan Villar to score.dddddddddddd Balfour got Jason Castro to ground into a fielders choice, and then fanned Dominguez to end the game. "The at-bats were tremendous, especially in the ninth inning," Houston manager Bo Porter said. "I really felt like Dominguez was going to get a base hit there. Its unfortunate we came up short." It was an appropriate end to the back-and-forth contest. Houston scored three times in the third to open a 3-1 lead. Dominguez had a two-run single and Jose Altuve also drove in a run with a base hit. Oakland tied it in the bottom half when Lowrie doubled in Donaldson and scored on Freimans single. Villar drove in Brett Wallace with a bunt single in the fourth, putting the Astros back in front. The lead didnt last very long, with Oakland going in front for good in the bottom half. Houston starter Dallas Keuchel (5-9) struggled in his third start against the As this season, allowing 10 hits and five runs in just 3 2-3 innings. He was hurt by his defence. Left fielder Chris Carter dropped Brandon Moss routine fly ball in the sixth. First baseman Wallace later dropped a foul ball in the eighth for another error. NOTES: As CF Coco Crisp has an extra-base hit in seven consecutive games, the longest streak by an Oakland player since 2003. ... Villar finished with three hits. ... Houston CF Brandon Barnes was ejected in the sixth inning after arguing with home plate umpire Alan Porter from the Astros dugout. Barnes appeared to get hit by a pitch from Griffin earlier in the inning but Porter ruled otherwise. Barnes then struck out. ... Castro (right knee) was back in the Houston lineup as the DH after missing three games. Bo Porter did not know when Castro would be able to catch again. ... As RF Josh Reddick (right wrist) is expected to take batting practice on the field Tuesday in Minnesota. ... Brett Oberholtzer (4-1), coming off Houstons first shutout of the season, takes on Dan Straily (8-7) in the third game of the series. ' ' '