The San Jose Sharks are hoping for a better all-around performance when they hit the road for the first time this season to play the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center on Friday night.The Sharks (0-1-0) lost 5-2 against the Anaheim Ducks in the season opener for both teams on Wednesday night in San Jose.Sharks goalie Martin Jones stopped just 10 of 14 shots before the Ducks scored a late empty-netter to seal the win. San Jose also went 0-for-3 on the power play Henrik Lundqvist Jersey Kids , and gave up two power play goals on the other end.Article continues below ...“The power play’s about confidence and obviously we struggled in preseason and didn’t look sharp tonight,” San Jose coach Peter DeBoer told the San Jose Mercury News afterward. “We’ve got to get some practice time, we’ve got to spend a little time on video. but special teams and goaltending are huge parts of the game and we lost those two battles. When that happens, you’re probably not going to win a lot of games.”The Kings will open their season without right winger Dustin Brown, who finished second on the team in goals (28) and points (61) last season. Brown sustained a broken finger in the final preseason game Saturday against the Ducks and is out indefinitely.“It’s not good to lose one of your top guys,” Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty told The Athletic. “Brownie is a guy that is very, very hard to replace. Both in the room and on the ice.”San Jose welcomed back one of its leaders on Wednesday night.Joe Thornton played his first game since Jan. 23. He underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee two days later and missed the rest of the regular season and playoffs.Thornton, 39, played 17:42 against the Ducks with one shot on goal and two penalty minutes.“That’s the best I’ve seen (Thornton) moving since training camp and exhibition,” DeBoer told reporters afterward. “I thought tonight he had some decent legs.”Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson will make his first appearance at Staples Center since Dec. 7, when he was still a member of the Ottawa Senators.Karlsson, one of the NHL’s top defensemen who led the league in assists with 66 in 2015-16, was traded to San Jose on Sept. 13 in a deal that sent two players, two prospects and San Jose’s 2020 first-round draft pick to Ottawa.Karlsson wasn’t much of a factor in his team debut on Wednesday. He had a team-high four takeaways, but was also the only player to finish at minus-2.“I think as the game went on, just like everybody else, it felt a little more comfortable,” Karlsson told the Mercury News. “A little bit shaky in the beginning, pucks were bouncing here and there and you’re overthinking stuff, but (as) the game went along Jimmy Vesey Jersey , I think not only me but everybody else started to feel a little bit more comfortable.” LAS VEGAS (AP) For the second consecutive game, the Vegas Golden Knights looked like the same team that was so dominant for much of the season.Jonathan Marchessault scored his 23rd goal and the Pacific Division leaders defeated Vancouver 4-1 on Tuesday night to hand the slumping Canucks their seventh straight loss.But while 12 players had points for expansion Vegas, mystery surrounded the status of starting goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who exited after one period. Fleury took a shot from Brandon Sutter off the mask midway through the first, but finished the period.Fleury, credited with the victory after making seven saves to improve to 27-11-3, took over sole possession of 12th place on the NHL’s career wins list with 402. The 14-year veteran missed 25 games this season after suffering a concussion four games in.”I haven’t heard (anything) yet. The trainers told me he’s not coming back tonight,” said Vegas coach Gerard Gallant, who confirmed it was not the plan to rest the three-time Stanley Cup champion netminder after one period of play.Malcolm Subban took over in net at the start of the second, making his first appearance since Feb. 2, when he lost in Minnesota. Subban made 22 saves.”I’m not too sure what happened (with Fleury), they just told me I was going in,” said Subban, who found out he would replace Fleury midway through the first intermission. ”I felt pretty good, I guess. The game felt pretty fast. It’s been a long time since I played a game. When you’re out for that long you can’t wait to get back in the net.”Cody Eakin, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Tomas Tatar also scored for Vegas, which ranks second in the league with 245 goals.Vancouver got a goal from Sutter, and Jacob Markstrom stopped 24 shots. Markstrom dropped to 18-26-6 after losing his fifth straight start. He has allowed 14 goals during that skid.Vancouver fell to 6-17-1 against Pacific Division teams. It came into the game with the league’s fifth-best road power play at 21.9 percent but was 0 for 1 on Tuesday.The Canucks have dropped seven straight since losing 21-year-old rookie star Brock Boeser to a potential season-ending back injury. Boeser leads Vancouver with 29 goals and 55 points. The Canucks have scored just seven goals in the seven games since his injury, and were shut out in three consecutive games.”Their team came ready to play tonight. That’s a good hockey team,” Vancouver coach Travis Green said. ”When you get down 2-0 early and 3-0 after one Kevin Hayes Jersey , you’re not going to come back against a team like that – or, we’re not. It’s frustrating to lose. The players are frustrated. I don’t blame them. I think it’s a combination of not scoring … and losing.”Vegas earned its 26th win at home, one more victory than Vancouver has overall this season.Now the Golden Knights prepare for a two-game road trip with Fleury’s status uncertain, beginning at red-hot San Jose, which defeated New Jersey 6-2 on Tuesday. The second-place Sharks are eight points behind the Golden Knights in the Pacific Division.Marchessault, who ended a personal drought when he scored four minutes into the game, said removing Fleury was a precautionary move and he didn’t believe it was anything serious.”It was a smart decision,” Marchessault said. ”We’re winning 3-0, there’s 10 games left. It’s the way it goes sometimes. It’s something that happened, and Sooby did good. He came back and was really in shape. He looked really good out there. It’s something (where) we’re lucky in that group. We’re confident with either goalie that’s going to be in.”Eakin scored less than a minute after Marchessault, and Bellemare added his goal just before the end of the period.”As soon as we realized that Soob was going in, the only thing we were thinking was, we talked to each other in the locker room saying let’s make sure we’re strong for him,” Bellemare said. ”Soob hasn’t played in a while, he needed us to play a strong defensive game in front of him. We managed pretty well.”After blocking six shots in the first period, the Golden Knights finished with 17.Tatar smacked home his own rebound to extend the lead to 4-0 with 5:39 left in the second. Sutter got his seventh of the season when he used a wrist shot to sneak the puck through Subban’s legs midway through the third.NOTES: Gallant is one win from 200 in his career. … The teams meet one more time, on April 3. Vegas has won the first three meetings by a combined score of 15-6. … Former Golden Knights forward Brendan Leipsic has six points (two goals, four assists) over the past 10 games with the Canucks. … Former baseball slugger and Las Vegas resident Frank Thomas was among the 18,214 in attendance.UP NEXTVancouver: Plays at Chicago on Thursday.Vegas: Plays at San Jose on Thursday.—