when the San Jose Sharks were spun off from the North Stars and effectively reborn under the Seals' previous ownership. This rivalry really kicked things off with defeating the Wayne Gretzky era Los Angeles Kings 4–0 on April 28, 1995, destroyed any hope of a Kings playoff appearance. The Kings didn't get a definitive win over the Sharks until the season, when the Kings' victory on February 17, 2003, at the Staples Center ended the Sharks hope of making the playoffs. The Kings and Sharks met in the playoffs for the first time ever in the 2011 Western Conference Quarterfinals. The Sharks were the #2 seed and the Kings were the #7 seed. The Sharks eliminated Los Angeles in six games with Joe Thornton scoring the OT goal that eliminated the Kings. In the 2011–12 NHL season, the teams competed for the last two seeds in the west with the Sharks ultimately securing the #7 seed while L.A. went into the #8 seed. San Jose was eliminated by the St. Louis Blues in the first round while L.A. steamrolled their way to their first Stanley Cup in the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals. The two teams faced each other again in the 2013 Western Conference Semifinals, with the Kings winning the series 4–3. The Kings and Sharks met again in the playoffs for the second year in a row 2014 Western Conference First Round, further adding fuel to the rivalry in a series that turned out to become a surprising 7-game series. San Jose took home ice and stormed to a 3–0 series lead, winning on home ice easily 6–3 and 7–2 before edging the Kings at Staples Center 4–3 in OT. The Kings then rebounded to send the series back to San Jose with a 6–3 victory in Game 4 before winning on the road 3–0 in Game 5 to head back to Los Angeles. A 4–1 win in Los Angeles for the Kings brought the series to seven games, becoming just the 9th team in history to force a Game 7 after being down 0–3. Given the chance to become just the 4th team in NHL history to complete the unlikeliest of comebacks, the Kings won 5–1 in San Jose to win the series. In doing so, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter became the first NHL players to complete the comeback twice, both being part of the 2010 Philadelphia