The rivalry reached a boiling point in the early-to-mid 2010s, with Los Angeles and San Jose meeting in the playoffs four times in a span of six years, as well as one of the two teams appearing in six of seven conference finals from 2010 to 2016.

They tied seven times, all prior to the 2004–05 NHL lockout (when the league implemented shootouts as tie-breakers after scoreless overtime periods in the regular season).

A notable early moment in the rivalry came late during the 1993–94 season, when all three California teams – the Kings (who had gone to the Stanley Cup Finals the year before), Sharks (then in only their third year of existence), and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (then in their inaugural season) – battled for the eighth and final playoff spot in the newly-renamed Western Conference.

Moreover, the Kings' superstar captain, Wayne Gretzky, was chasing the all-time NHL career goals record of 801 held by his idol, Gordie Howe.

On March 20, 1994, during the first period of a Kings–Sharks game in San Jose, Gretzky scored the 800th goal of his career by stealing the puck from Sharks defenseman Sandis Ozolins and backhanding it through the legs of goaltender Arturs Irbe.

Sharks' coach Todd McLellan decided to yank goaltender Antti Niemi and replace him with backup Anterro Niittymaki.

This seemed to spark San Jose as they fired home three unanswered goals scored by Patrick Marleau, Ryane Clowe, and Logan Couture.

Joe Thornton scored in overtime for San Jose, winning the game 4–3 and the series 4–2 to advance to the Western Conference semifinals.

Los Angeles was coming off a victory over the fourth-seeded St. Louis Blues in six games while San Jose completed a series sweep of the third-seeded Vancouver Canucks.

The Kings were in the midst of an attempt to defend their 2012 Cup victory while the Sharks were looking to advance to the conference finals for the fourth time in franchise history.

Logan Couture scored on the five-on-three advantage to give San Jose a 2–1 victory and cut the Kings' series lead in half.

[15] Los Angeles continued their quest for a Stanley Cup repeat to the Western Conference finals, but were ousted by the President's Trophy-winning Chicago Blackhawks in five games.

This prompted Los Angeles' coach Darryl Sutter to replace Jonathan Quick with backup goaltender Martin Jones.

Coach Sutter's team seemed to be sparked by that move, as they got three unanswered goals from Jake Muzzin, Slava Voynov, and Trevor Lewis to make it 5–3.

However, their comeback effort proved unsuccessful, as Brent Burns added an empty net goal for San Jose to give them a 6–3 win and a 1–0 series lead.

Joe Pavelski pulled the Sharks to within two later on, but Dustin Brown scored an empty net goal to help Los Angeles double up San Jose 6–3.

[19] In game six at the Staples Center, Justin Williams scored first for Los Angeles to give them a 1–0 lead through 20 minutes of play.

In the third period, Sharks goaltender Alex Stalock appeared to have control of the puck after a shot, but the referees never blew the whistle.

Veteran defenseman Dan Boyle was whistled for a two-minute high-sticking penalty, but Los Angeles failed to capitalize.

Their lead only lasted a couple of minutes as Doughty scored a power play goal with Tommy Wingels and Logan Couture in the penalty box for hooking and elbowing, respectively.

The Kings killed four straight penalties before Williams fed Kopitar the puck to score the go-ahead goal late in the period.

[20] The Kings went on to defeat their Southern California rivals, the Anaheim Ducks, and the Chicago Blackhawks in two grueling seven-game series before knocking off the New York Rangers in the 2014 Stanley Cup Finals in five games to win their second title in franchise history.

With 1:04 left in the period, Tommy Wingels won a faceoff for San Jose sending the puck to star defenseman Brent Burns.

[22] After a mediocre showing from both teams the previous year, San Jose and Los Angeles posted strong records in the regular season.

Early in the first period, Los Angeles defenseman Jake Muzzin scored a goal off of Sharks forward Tomas Hertl's skate for the 1–0 lead.

The Kings held the Sharks without a shot on goal for the first several minutes of the game, but then Pavelski's power play tally leveled the score.

San Jose's defenseman Brent Burns pushed his team into the lead after taking advantage of teammate Joel Ward's faceoff win in Los Angeles' zone.

Drew Doughty was whistled for a hooking penalty, but teammate Trevor Lewis scored shorthanded, giving the Kings the lead once more.

[25] In game four, the Sharks scored three power play goals (two in the second period and one in the third) from Burns, Pavelski, and Marleau to take a 3–0 lead.

Joonas Donskoi, Chris Tierney, and Matt Nieto scored for the Sharks, all at even-strength, to give their team a 3–0 lead.