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Calgary Flames at Los Angeles Kings preview: Ninth time’s the charm?

This is it. The last game before Christmas. It's gotta be a good one for our guys, right?

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The Flames did it! The Calgary Flames did it! They… got a point. They didn’t win a game, but they got a point. And hey, that’s progress the Flames can take as they get set for their final game before Christmas. They’re still on the west coast, just further south as they’re getting set to take on the Los Angeles Kings for the first time this season. It’s kind of a weird point of the schedule, because the Flames have already played the San Jose Sharks and Anaheim Ducks twice, including a California trip already. Just… not the Kings, for some reason. But that’s not going to be the case anymore.

When we last saw the Flames, they fell 3-2 just 18 seconds in overtime to the Vancouver Canucks. It was very sad, especially in part because the Flames scored three goals and the Canucks just two. It’s just that… well… one of those goals was against themselves. And. We don’t need to talk about it. | Recap | Stats recap | Boxscore | We CAN talk about how great Jonas Hiller was, and Johnny Gaudreau’s outstanding game-tying goal in the third:

And what of the Kings? Well, they’ve followed up their own three-game losing streak with a two-game winning streak. They’ve outscored the St. Louis Blues and Arizona Coyotes 10-6 in their last two games, so while they’re definitely vulnerable to being scored on, they’re dangerous, too.

Be sure to visit our friends at Jewels from the Crown to read up more on the opposition.

Game time: 8:30 p.m. MT (frickin' California)

Channel: SNW

All-time record: The Flames have, historically, been the much better franchise, posting a 125-97-21-4 record against the Kings. This includes a staggering +97 goal differential. Wouldn't it be so nice to get that to triple digits?

Common threads: Longtime Flame Robyn Regehr has recently been placed on injured reserve, so we won’t be seeing him tonight. Regehr played 826 games for the Flames, and while he isn’t what he used to be, I still miss him very much.

Approaching milestones: Jiri Hudler now has 199 career assists, which is a lot, but not yet a pretty round number.

Current records and leaders

Calgary Flames Los Angeles Kings
17-15-3: 37 points 17-11-6: 40 points
Pacific Division: 5th Pacific Division: 4th
Western Conference: 9th Western Conference: 8th
Time on ice
Defence: TJ Brodie (24:52 per game)
Forward: Sean Monahan (19:30 per game)
Defence: Drew Doughty (29:05 per game)
Forward: Anze Kopitar (18:54 per game)
Points
Goals: Jiri Hudler (13)
Assists: Mark Giordano (23)
Points: Mark Giordano (32)


Goals:
Tanner Pearson (11)
Assists: Jeff Carter
Drew Doughty (16)
Points: Jeff Carter (25)

Shots
Shots on goal: Sean Monahan (93)
Shooting percentage: Jiri Hudler (20.0%)
Shots on goal: Drew Doughty (94)
Shooting percentage: Marian Gaborik
Tanner Pearson (19.6%)
Faceoff Leaders
Sean Monahan (49.6%, 748 taken) Jeff Carter (56.1%, 469 taken)
Grit
Penalty minutes: Brandon Bollig (40)
Hits: Lance Bouma (105)
Blocked shots: Kris Russell (104)
Penalty minutes: Matt Greene (38)
Hits: Robyn Regehr (104)
Blocked shots: Drew Doughty (59)
Corsi/Fenwick (minimum 1/2 team’s games played)
Corsi for%: Jiri Hudler (48.7%, 34 GP)
Mark Giordano (48.3%, 35 GP)
Fenwick for%: Johnny Gaudreau (49.6%, 34 GP)
Jiri Hudler (49.5%, 34 GP)
Corsi for%: Marian Gaborik (58.1%, 22 GP)
Jake Muzzin (57.6%, 28 GP)
Fenwick for%: Jake Muzzin (57.5%, 28 GP)
Marian Gaborik (57.4%, 22 GP)

Possible starting lineups

Calgary Flames
Left Wing Center Right Wing
Curtis Glencross Sean Monahan David Jones
Johnny Gaudreau Markus Granlund Jiri Hudler
Mason Raymond Joe Colborne Paul Byron
Brandon Bollig Matt Stajan Lance Bouma
Left Defense Right Defense
Mark Giordano TJ Brodie
Kris Russell Dennis Wideman
Raphael Diaz Deryk Engelland
Goalies
Jonas Hiller
Karri Ramo

Los Angeles Kings
Left Wing Center Right Wing
Marian Gaborik Anze Kopitar Jeff Carter
Dustin Brown Jarret Stoll Justin Williams
Tanner Pearson Trevor Lewis Tyler Toffoli
Kyle Clifford Mike Richards Dwight King
Left Defense Right Defense
Jake Muzzin Drew Doughty
Alec Martinez Matt Greene
Brayden McNabb Jamie McBain
Goalies
Jonathan Quick
Martin Jones

Following both upper and lower body injuries, Josh Jooris is, unfortunately, forced to sit this game out.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/reallisa">@reallisa</a> LB shot block on Friday (versus Dallas). UB slash on Saturday (at Vancouver). Wearing a walking cast, many bags of ice. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Jooris?src=hash">#Jooris</a></p>&mdash; Scott Cruickshank (@CruickshankCH) <a href="https://twitter.com/CruickshankCH/status/547155921126703104">December 22, 2014</a></blockquote>

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That sees Brandon Bollig draw back into the lineup, and Markus Granlund take back his original spot between Johnny Gaudreau and Jiri Hudler. Joe Colborne shifts back into the middle, and Jonas Hiller gets his third consecutive start.

by Ari Yanover