John Klingberg is going to try to force the action less.

That’s an adjustment for the 33-year-old defensemen, once one of the great offensive defensemen of his time.

Recently, San Jose Sharks head coach Ryan Warsofsky compared Klingberg, two-time top-six Norris Trophy finisher, to three-time Norris winner Erik Karlsson.

“Reminds me of Karl in the way he sees the game,” Warsofsky said.

“See” is the operative word, and that’s a perfectly valid comparison, in terms of how Klingberg and Karlsson, in their heyday, would try to force the action, both offensively and defensively.

But there’s a double-edged sword to that, as we’ve seen with some of Klingberg’s defensive miscues recently, dangerous passes and overaggressiveness trying to kill a play.

All this led to John Klingberg’s first healthy scratch this season, on Tuesday against the Utah Mammoth.

“There’s a risk-and-reward type of defenseman, a lot of teams have those types of players, but you have to get the reward. And we really haven’t got a lot of that,” Warsofsky said.

Klingberg, who’s dealt with persistent hip issues over the last five years, got the message.

“It’s a little bit different with all of the history of injuries and getting older too, so you have to adapt a little bit,” he said. “But yeah, just simplify the game and let the game come to me.”

The Sharks weren’t getting the reward on the power play either, once Klingberg’s bread and butter.

And if anything, Klingberg is honest.

“The power play was good when I was out. Worked with [Dmitry] Orlov,” he said. “I’m a team guy, if the power play works, go ahead and do it.”

But Warsofsky is going to give Klingberg, who has shown flashes of great playmaking, a chance to reclaim his job as top power play quarterback. Historically, Klingberg is a PP1 quarterback and Orlov is more PP2, so hopefully, a better all-around 5-on-5 game will pave the way for the Swedish blueliner to find his footing on the man advantage too.

Either way, Klingberg is clearly open-minded about adjusting his game.

“I take big pride in being in the line-up, and I can find different roles, in a second [power play] unit, or even try to play PK or whatever,” Klingberg, who reached the Stanley Cup Final last year, said. “I had success in Edmonton as well and was able to stay in that line-up throughout the playoffs.”

Klingberg still skates well and can move a puck, so the tools are there.

“It’s never easy to sit out, but it gives you some time to think and take a step back and then just reevaluate your own game,” he said. “I sometimes feel like I have to put a leash on myself.”

San Jose Sharks (9-8-3)

Yaroslav Askarov will start.

Timothy Liljegren and John Klingberg will replace Shakir Mukhamadullin and Nick Leddy in the line-up:

Kurashev-Celebrini-Smith
Eklund-Wennberg-Toffoli
Gaudette-Dellandrea-Graf
Goodrow-Ostapchuk-Reaves

Orlov-Liljegren
Ferraro-Klingberg
Dickinson-Desharnais

Klingberg is also back on the top power play unit:

PP1: Klingberg-Celebrini-Eklund-Smith-Wennberg
PP2: Orlov-Liljegren-Kurashev-Toffoli-Gaudette

Los Angeles Kings (10-6-4)

Anton Forsberg will start.

According to Zach Dooley, here’s how the Kings should line up:

Fiala – Byfield – Kempe
Moore – Kopitar – Kuzmenko
Foegele – Danault – Laferriere
Armia – Turcotte – Perry

Anderson – Dumoulin
Edmundson – Clarke
Moverare – Ceci

Where To Watch

Puck drop between the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles Kings is at 7 PM PT at SAP Center. Watch it live on ESPN+ and Hulu. Listen to it on the Sharks Audio Network.