In its newly configured form — along with a newly branded name of the Golden State Rookie Faceoff — NHL prospects were in action on Saturday, with the Kings falling 8-5 to the Sharks. Meanwhile, on Friday evening, the host Ducks lost a fight-filled battle 6-3 to that same group from NoCal.
This now leaves Sunday’s event finale between SoCal’s crosstown rivals as a battle of winless teams at the event.
Before getting to today’s afternoon affair, lets rewind briefly. Yesterday’s score doesn’t properly tell the story. So… what did you miss yesterday in LA’s Game 1?
Coach Andrew Lord summed things up best, referring to it as “everything you love about the game, then hate about the game.”
After jumping out to a 4-0 lead, including goals by Koehn Ziemmer and Kirill Kirsanov, all of LA’s momentum slipped away during the second period.
Following a play involving a questionable hit on Liam Greentree — along with a planned swap in goalies around the 30-minute mark — San Jose seemed to find their footing. And that’s putting it mildly. They proceeded to produce a barrage of goals and by the time Sharks prized prospect Michael Misa made it 6-4, it was all but over. The Sharks continued to dominate and even a late Kings goal by Aatu Jamsen wasn’t enough to slow that train down.
For those interested:
Kings Projected Lineup vs. Ducks
There will be a small handful of changes to LA’s lineup today, including Carter Geroge in goal. We’ll also call attention to defenseman Nate Corbet. He’s a camp invitee who arrived in town after leading the WHL in fights last season. With a Kings-Ducks game, we’d lay the odds at -2200 he drops the gloves vs. Anaheim.
Kaleb Lawrence was ejected from yesterday’s affair and required extra treatment after the game. However, there was cautious optimism by Lord that he’d be available for today’s contest.
Also worth noting, 2025 Draft pick Will Sharpe never actually made it to Rookie Camp. He was injured (abdominal) during an WHL preseason game just a few days before needing to report to LA.
If there are any key lineup changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.
Greentree – Connors – Ziemmer
Jamsen – Lawrence – Wright
Chovan – Lombardi – Hughes
O’Hara – Crawford – Mastrodonato
Dvorak – Salin
Woolley – Brzustewicz
Corbet – Berge
George
Saville
Expected Scratches: (F) Gerwig, Isogai and (D) Booth, Kirsanov
Across the Ice
This is how Anaheim lined up for their game on Friday:
Sidorov – Washe – Sennecke
Myatovic – Procyszyn – Masse
Read – Wiebe – Turko
Guite – Lindmark – Lautenbach
Solberg – Francis
Mathieu – T. Smith
K. Smith – Uljanskis
Buteyets
McIvor
Free Rookie Faceoff Stream
All 2,500 tickets for today’s game have been sold; it will be a full barn. Puck drop is scheduled for 1:00pm PT.
For those unable to attend, all games at the 2025 Golden State Rookie Faceoff will be streamed without regional restrictions (a move the league first put in place at last year’s tournament).
Both Kings games will feature play-by-play from Jared Shafran, plus color commentary from Daryl Evans and Paige Capistran.
WATCH: Stream Kings vs. Sharks at 2025 Rookie Faceoff
Games are also available via SLVR Sports & Entertainment on SamsungTVPlus, CH 2328.
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