The LA Kings dropped their Rookie Faceoff opener by an 8-1 margin on Saturday evening against the San Jose Sharks.

San Jose jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, as forward Filip Bystedt scored on a deflection to open the scoring 4:09 into the game. Defenseman Jake Boltmann walked the blueline and as he got to the center point, he put a shot towards the net, with Bystedt getting a tip on the way, sending it past Kings goaltender Carter George for the first Sharks goal of the tournament.

Later in the opening frame, the Sharks scored twice in a span of 44 seconds to open up a three-goal lead.

First, forward Carson Wetsch gave the Sharks another deflected goal as his shot from the slot looked like it hit a Kings stick, went the other way and in. Then, San Jose connected on a 2-on-1 rush to take the 3-0 advantage. Wetsch played the role of facilitator, as he fed forward Andre Gasseau, who buried past George on the blocker side for his first of the Rookie Faceoff.

The Kings got on the board 13:47 into the game, with forward Vojtech Cihar burying the first Kings goal of the tournament. Forward Jared Wright used his speed to carry the puck from end-to-end, gaining the offensive zone with possession. Eventually, defenseman Jared Woolley found the puck down low and fed Cihar at the back post for the goal, to bring the Kings within 3-1.

The Sharks capped off a high-scoring period with a shorthanded goal, coming with four seconds remaining on a Kings power play. San Jose first attacked 2-on-1 but Kings blueliner Adam Goljer made a nice defensive play to break it up. The hosts sustained the pressure though and the Kings lost Gasseau at the back post, where he buried his second of the game for the 4-1 lead through 20 minutes.

The only goal in the second period was a power-play tally from the Sharks, as the hosts opened up a four-goal lead. With just one second remaining on a Kaleb Lawrence minor penalty, Wetsch collected his fourth point of the evening as he deflected a point shot by Mack Oliphant into the back of the net for a 5-1 lead through 40 minutes of play.

Sharks forward Ivar Stenberg scored on back-to-back shifts in the third period as the Sharks blew the game wide open at 7-1. First, Stenberg got the last touch on a deflecting, bouncing puck through the slot to make it 6-1. Shortly after, he finished off a nice pass from forward Igor Chernychov at the back post on a play that featured some NHL-level passing to give the hosts a six-goal lead. The Sharks added a late goal to bring the game to the 8-1 final.

Hear from Cihar, forward Grant Slukynsky and Head Coach Andrew Lord following tonight’s defeat.

Vojtech Cihar

Grant Slukynsky
On the result tonight
Obviously that’s not the result we want out there. I think it’s just trying to build our own games within a team system and implementing our philosophies that we want to carry into the the Kings or the Reign season. So, not the result we wanted tonight, but we’re going to take the positives, learn from the negatives and move on and put our best foot forward tomorrow.

On settling into a team with players that haven’t played together before, learning new systems and structure on the fly
Yeah, like you said, it’s a lot of moving parts. I think for me personally, it’s just taking what I can from the the video and just at the end of the day, it’s hockey. We love to play hockey. It’s taking the the systems and just trying to implement them the best I can, but also having the freedom to go out there and just you know kind of let it rip and play.

On his assessment of his own game tonight, his first at an NHL rookie tournament
Yeah, I think just tidying up my details. I thought my face-offs were good, I thought my timing was was good. Right now, I’m just trying to kind of get back in the group playing. It’s been one practice, one game. So, just getting out there and getting my touches, getting my my reps down, and getting the timing back to the game speed. I had a couple chances tonight where I’d like to let it rip. That’s just how it goes sometimes. So, spilling out the positives, cleaning up the negatives, and that’s where we’re gonna go for it.

On the adjustment from the NCAA to the pace tonight
You know, I thought the pace was similar. I felt good out there with it being the first game, it’s one practice, one game. I would say the pace was similar, just a little bit more sloppy. You get in guys from all over the world, different ages and a little more sloppy. I thought physicality was probably similar to the NCAA. Coming from the NCHC, I feel like that prepared me well and I’m very excited to get going on my first pro season.

Andrew Lord
On his takeaways from tonight’s game
Yeah, it’s difficult, obviously. I think it’s just a great learning lesson overall. I think that’s what it has to be and what it is. From an odd-man perspective, puck-management perspective, we have to be so much better for sure and just make the game a lot harder. Really good lesson when you’re playing elite level skilled type teams. They’ve got multiple guys, obviously, that are NHL caliber. They make you pay within a split second. So, just making the game harder overall is going to be a real focus for tomorrow and I know we’ll all be better.

On if those lessons go twice for the young defensemen in the lineup
I would say so. At the same time, the forwards, the track, getting above above pucks, puck management at their blue line, all those fundamentals are really critical. We probably hung our D to dry at times, but at the same time, I think our D caused their own problems as well, right, just managing the game. Probably the best way to answer it is just to understand how quickly the transition happens. You think you’re fine and you get stuck on the wall and then you’re not right and two guys jump long and it’s 2-on-1’s, it’s breakaways. It happens in less than a second. So, just understanding that pace of play is a really valuable lesson as well tonight.

On the fights late in a game, in particular Liam Lefebvre
Yeah, I mean him, Woolley, multiple others even that weren’t just fights. I think there were some guys sticking up for each other.Probably needed to happen a little earlier, but at the end of the day, to see it is a good sign for sure.

On Carter George’s game tonight
I mean Georgie’s fantastic. Obviously, he’s a top prospect for a reason and you get a feel for him, right? It’s a tough night. We certainly didn’t make it easy on him. He had some still highlight-reel saves, and the best is yet to come for that young man.

The Kings are back in action tomorrow afternoon against the Anaheim Ducks at 3 PM for Game 2 of the 2026 Rookie Faceoff.