Sharks at Kings preview

SHARKS (0-1-0) at KINGS (0-0-0)
10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, FS-W, NHL.TV

The Game

Ilya Kovalchuk will play his first NHL game since the 2012-13 season when the Los Angeles Kings open the regular season against the San Jose Sharks at Staples Center on Friday.
Kovalchuk, 35, signed a signed a three-year, $18.75 million contract (average annual value $6.25 million with Los Angeles on July 1 after playing the past five seasons with SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League. Kovalchuk, who has 816 points (417 goals, 399 assists) in 816 NHL games over 11 seasons with the Atlanta Thrashers and New Jersey Devils, will play right wing on the first line with center Anze Kopitar and left wing Alex Iafallo.
Forward Austin Wagner, 21, will make his NHL debut for the Kings, who went 1-3-0 against the Sharks last season.
San Jose lost 5-2 to the Anaheim Ducks in their season opener Wednesday, with forwards Tomas Hertl and Evander Kane each scoring one goal. The Sharks allowed two power-play goals in three penalty kills.
Defenseman Erik Karlsson had a minus-2 rating and played 26:48 in his San Jose debut.

Players to watch

Sharks center Joe Thornton has 397 NHL goals and needs four assists to pass Mario Lemieux (1,033) for 11th place on the NHL all-time list. Thornton had one goal in four games against Los Angeles last season.
Kopitar had four points (two goals, two assists) in four games against San Jose last season. He had 92 points (35 goals, 57 assists) to set NHL career-highs in each category.

They said it

"It's almost money in the bank that next time out he's really solid." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer on goaltender Martin Jones, who allowed four goals on 14 shots against the Ducks
"I'm feeling like before I played my first game in Atlanta. Very excited." -- Kings forward Ilya Kovalchuk on playing his first NHL game since April 27, 2013

Sharks projected lineup

Timo Meier -- Joe Thornton -- Joe Pavelski
Tomas Hertl -- Logan Couture -- Kevin Labanc
Evander Kane -- Antti Suomela -- Joonas Donskoi
Marcus Sorensen -- Barclay Goodrow -- Melker Karlsson
Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Erik Karlsson
Joakim Ryan -- Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon -- Justin Braun
Martin Jones
Aaron Dell
Scratched:Radim Simek, Rourke Chartier, Tim Heed
Injured: None

Kings projected lineup

Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Ilya Kovalchuk
Tanner Pearson -- Jeff Carter -- Tyler Toffoli
Austin Wagner -- Adrian Kempe -- Trevor Lewis
Kyle Clifford -- Michael Amadio -- Nate Thompson
Derek Forbort -- Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin -- Alec Martinez
Dion Phaneuf -- Oscar Fantenberg
Jonathan Quick
Jack Campbell
Scratched: Paul LaDue, Jaret Anderson-Dolan
Injured: Dustin Brown (finger), Jonny Brodzinski (shoulder)

Status report

Brown is out indefinitely with a broken finger he sustained in the Kings final preseason game Sept. 29. Coach John Stevens said Brown would be back in "weeks and not months."

Stat pack

The Kings are 1-3-0 in their past four season openers, with each loss to the Sharks. … Quick is one shutout shy of 50 in his NHL career. … Kane has 15 points (10 goals, five assists) in 18 games with San Jose since being acquired in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres on Feb. 26. … Pavelski is three points shy of 700 in his NHL career.