Brock Nelson remembers the “Death Valley” road trip all too well.

Forgive him if he has the odd nightmare or two about it.

Nelson’s first trip to California as an NHL player came in early December of 2013. Back then, the Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks were all among the top Stanley Cup contenders in the NHL.

It was one of the hardest road trips for any NHL team. Nelson’s new team might be part of something similar in the near future.

“It always felt like we would have three (games) in four (days),” Nelson said. “The Kings were obviously so tough to play against. The Ducks had all those big guys.

“There were games, especially at the Shark Tank, where we just wanted to survive the first period. There was a game where we got outshot like low 20s to three or four, an

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