THE WEEK AHEAD

KINGS: 2 GAMES

Friday, at San Jose, 7:30 p.m., Fox Sports Net -- The first-place Kings take on the second-place Sharks. Come again? As the Dallas Stars and Mighty Ducks stumble amid lofty preseason predictions, the Kings and Sharks have moved to the upper reaches of the Pacific Division. The Sharks have done it in part because of strong special-teams play: They were seventh in the league in power-play efficiency and ninth in penalty killing before Monday’s games.

Saturday, San Jose at Staples Center, 7:30 p.m., Fox Sports Net -- It’s Kings-Sharks for a second consecutive night. The Kings are 24-8-3 at home against the Sharks since San Jose began play in 1991-92.

-- Mike Bresnahan