Photo credit: MARK J. TERRILL — AP Photo

By Pearl Allison Lo

LOS ANGELES– The Los Angeles Kings started on top of with the pre-game banner ceremonies but by the end, suffered a 4-0 drubbing by San Jose Wednesday in the teams’ season opener.

The Shark’s Antti Niemi stopped 34 shots, Tommy Wingels scored two goals, including the game winner and Brent Burns had two assists. In response to a question about it being a big game, Wingels said, “It absolutely was, it has been a long summer thinking about this game, when the schedule came out and this was our first game the media loved it, the fans loved it, but us players loved it too. Not a better way for us to start the season.”

San Jose coach Todd McLellan remarked, “They earned the right to have that pre-game ceremony and they obviously enjoyed it and the fans were rewarded for it. That’s why they played for the Stanley Cup at the end of the year so once that was over, the game started. The rivalry is always going to be there and it was there again tonight.”

Los Angeles goalie Jonathan Quick said regarding the ceremony, “You’re just kind of tired of it. You just want to play hockey.”

The first altercation between the teams came at the end of the Kings’ power play with an almost goal near the edge of the net at about 5:18.

When the Sharks got to the other end, San Jose’s Jason Demers passed it from the top of the circle. Tye McGinn then passed to Wingels from alongside the boards, as Wingels scored an almost parallel goal from the red line at 5:43, giving San Jose a 1-0 lead. It was McGinn’s first assist in his first game as a Shark. .

The crowd wanted a call during the Sharks’ first power play when players ended in the net, including Los Angeles goalie Jonathan Quick.

Early in the second period, the crowd thought they had a goal when Jeff Carter had a wraparound attempt, but Niemi smothered the puck.

San Jose made it 2-0 on a power play goal when Kyle Clifford was called for tripping. The Kings tried to clear the puck, but it went to Marc-Edouard Vlasic. Vlasic then passed across the ice to Burns. As Burns shot, Patrick Marleau tipped in the puck at 3:20, with less than 30 seconds left in the power play.

The Sharks cleared the puck three times during their second penalty kill of the period. Los Angeles’ Marian Gaborik had a one-on-one opportunity, but Niemi saved the attempt.

Wingels got his second goal of the night and Burns got his second assist as Burns fed the puck to Wingels. With Brayden McNabb and Drew Doughty chasing him, Wingels got on a breakaway as he went right left and right to put the puck past Quick’s right side at 15:50.

14 seconds later, Marleau was battling for the puck against the boards and moved it out of the way. San Jose’s Matt Nieto slid in to grab the loose puck with Quick on the other side, and before Quick could get back, Nieto scored into the empty net.

The third period brought in new Kings’ goalie Martin Jones. He only faced three shots as Los Angeles had 10 shots in the period. Coach Darryl Sutter commented, “I didn’t pull Quick because of his performance. Like I said, I don’t like pulling goalies the first game of the year or ever, but at that point in the game it’s no Jonathan’s deal, it’s Jonesy’s (Martin Jones) deal.”

The Sharks killed off a 5-on-3 at 18:53, which occurred because of boarding and tripping calls.

Game notes: The game marked the NHL debuts for San Jose’s Chris Tierney and Mirco Mueller. Tierney finished +2 with three shots and a blocked shot and Mueller finished +1 with one shot and three blocked shots. Los Angeles’ Jake Muzzin, who was questionable before the game, did not play. The Sharks’ Joe Pavelski led all with seven shots, the Kings’ Alec Martinez led all with five blocked shots and Doughty was on the ice the longest, for 27:28. San Jose captaincy moved in the direction of closure with Vlasic, Pavelski, Marleau and Joe Thornton being named associate captains. Vlasic’s role will be intermittent while the rest will be the main associate captains. The Sharks will host the Winnipeg Jets in their season opener Saturday at 7pm.