Game 46 Preview: Kings vs Flames (The game of subplots)

This is one of the bigger symbolic Flames vs Kings match-ups. Excluding historical playoff matches and late season match-ups this one is full of drama. Full of sub-plots and anticipation.

Darryl Sutter returns to the Dome with his much better Kings team under his wing and you know that Mr. Motivator himself is going to have his team on turbo for a win in Calgary.

Brent Sutter has publicly stated that he is on speaking terms with his brother now again, finally, it was no secret the two had butted heads in the final days of Darryl Sutter's GM tenure. Butted heads to the point that one of them got fired and it was highly unlikely that Darryl saw himself as the Sutter getting the axe.

This will be the first game the two brothers have ever coached against each other.

On top of all this a player Darryl Sutter refused to sign, to the frustration of many is now back in the Flaming C. Mike Cammalleri is back. He is a clear upgrade over Rene Bourque, a significant injection into the Flames PP.

Is this a game to watch tonight? Absolutely.

On paper the Kings are the better team. May as well get that out of the way right away. The Flames are an underdog on basic analysis.

Hard to argue otherwise as you go down the line-ups. Maybe a slight edge to the Flames here and there but overall if the Flames are looking for a clean two points it is going to be hard fought for.

The Flames home record is definitely a bright spot this year. Winning eight straight games at home is impressive.

Projected lines show Cammy on LW with Mikael Backlund and Lee Stempniak. I expect a little juggling there in the game with Iginla and Stempniak likely to switch places on occasion.

Both teams ascribe to the defensive game so don’t expect a high scoring blow-out but probably another chess match like the last game against the Ducks. Despite the defensive styles of the teams there is no doubt the Flames are inserting a real wild card into the deck with Cammalleri.

Cammalleri has had next to zero time to work with the team and adjust to their style. He may be a wild card or simply a unpredictable X factor in the game and may hold the key to the win or the loss.

Here is how the teams match up – this is their first match up of the season.

	Stats
44	GP	45
21	W	21
15	L	19
8	OT	5
50	P	47
0.568	P%	0.522
2.14	G/G	2.42
2.16	GA/G	2.78
14.7	PP%	16.8
88.9	PK%	82.4
31.4	S/G	27.7
29.0	SA/G	30.7
50.8	FO%	45.0

Couple Game Day Videos For You

Brent Sutter

Darryl Sutter

by M Smith