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The Los Angeles Kings know a thing or two about winning, despite losing to the San Jose Sharks, 7-2 on Monday. They were thrashed in the loss but didn't want to downplay the loss. Kings head coach Jim Hiller gave the Sharks their flowers after the lopsided defeat.
“One thing people have to understand is, you shouldn't disrespect this team,” Hiller said via The Score. “That's not a team that's trying to tank. That's a good hockey team. Strong players, and a really good back end. We played them three times (this season); they beat us twice. We barely beat them the one at home. I'm going to give them the respect they deserve first.”
Funny enough, the respect is long overdue for San Jose. The Sharks head coach, Ryan Warsofsky acknowledged the lack of respect for his team after starting 0-7-2. Since, they've gone 7-5-3 in their last 15 games, bringing them to a 7-12-5 mark on the year. San Jose was 6-16-2 through its first 24 outings of its abysmal 2023-24 season.
Hiller isn't joking about the first time they met. When the Kings and Sharks squared off earlier in the season, Los Angeles won 3-2 in overtime. However, when the two teams squared off on Monday, it looked to be more of the same. It was 2-2 heading into the third period but then the Sharks bit off all of the Kings' momentum.
Sharks not only gained respect from the Kings but the entire NHL
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They rattled off five straight goals. The 2024 NHL first-overall pick, Macklin Celebrini, scored one minute into the period. That created a ripple effect, kicking off a flurry in which San Jose found the back of the net three times in a 2:40 span. Not to mention, Celebrini had an assist in between that and capped off the seven-goal performance by the Sharks with one more goal.
He became the second 18-year-old in Sharks history with a three-point game. Celebrini has had praise from everywhere, including Sidney Crosby ahead of his first game. Regardless, Warsofsky loved what he saw from the 18-year-old forward.
“He and I have had some conversations; sometimes he wants to shoot it through the goalie,” Warsofsky said. “He has a good release, a sneaky release where he can catch goalies like he did tonight. When you're not scoring, you press, and that's what happens as a young player. I give him a lot of credit, that conversation was after the last game, and he responded.”
San Jose is on a good trajectory, especially after its victory against the Kings. They'll hope to gain more respect across the league on Wednesday as they take on the Ottawa Senators.
