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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) |
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| Points | |||||
|
Goals: Jiri Hudler (13) Assists: Mark Giordano (23) Points: Mark Giordano (32) |
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| Shots | |||||
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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%) |
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| Faceoff Leaders | |||||
| Sean Monahan (49.6%, 748 taken) | Jeff Carter (56.1%, 469 taken) |
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| Grit | |||||
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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) |
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| Corsi/Fenwick (minimum 1/2 team's games played) | |||||
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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) |
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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>— 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.