Calgary Flames @ LA Kings Game Preview

The end of this all-important dads trip in California is coming to an end tonight as the Calgary Flames take on the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center. This is the fourth game between the two teams, and the Flames have already won the season series, with two overtime winners and a game that included Johnny Gaudreau’s first NHL hat trick. The Kings are probably getting tired of losing at this point and will be playing playoff hockey (which they seem alright at, being defending Stanley Cup champs and all), so it should be a very exciting game.

Let’s hope it’s reminiscent of the game against the San Jose Sharks on Monday night. That was fun hockey to watch. Jonas Hiller played exactly the game he needed to after the 4-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, making 33 saves for a SV% of .971. It was also nice to see the Flames’ special teams at it once again, completely shutting down the Sharks’ eighth-in-the-league powerplay, while also scoring on one of their own. | Recap | Stats | Boxscore | Highlights here:

The Kings are currently on a two-game winning streak and are back home after completing a five game road trip in which they collected four of the possible 10 points. They will most certainly be looking to take the game tonight in front of the home crowd in a game that is crucial to their playoff hopes. The Kings currently sit five points behind the Flames (with a game in hand), and five points behind the last wildcard spot in the West.

Alec Martinez was unable to finish the road trip with the Kings, instead returning to LA on Sunday due to concussion-like symptoms. He is currently on day-to-day status. In his place, Brayden McNabb slotted into the lineup and managed two assists in Columbus. The Kings also recalled defenceman Derek Forbort from the Manchester Monarchs yesterday, so they’ve got some options.

For more on the enemy, head over to Jewels From the Crown.

Game time: 8:30 p.m. MT (insert collective sign of another late one – but the last of the regular season!)

Channel: SNW, FS-W

All-time record: The Flames have done nothing but build on their lead this season, with an impressive 128-97-21-4 record over the Kings. That includes a +100 goal differential, which is pretty good! Hopefully we'll see that go up tonight.

Common threads: Our old pal, Robyn Regehr is in his third season as a King. He started his NHL career as a Flame in the 1999-2000 season, and spent 11 seasons wearing the flaming C. He held the position of alternate captain in Calgary from the 2003-2004 season for the remainder of his time as a Flame.

Also, Darryl Sutter.

Approaching milestones: Deryk Engelland is now only nine games away from 300 NHL games played. Cool job. Also counting down… TJ Brodie is only nine points away from 100 points. Thanks to his assist last game, he’s now setting a career high in points in a single season! Go Brodie!

As for the enemy, Jeff Carter is just two points away from 500, so he’s someone we’ve got to watch out for. In less likely scenarios, Robyn Regehr is actually six points from 200… but I think we all know he isn’t reaching that tonight.

Current records and leaders

Possible starting lineups

Welp. Looks like Bollig has somehow slotted back into the lineup. He must have blackmail on Bob Hartley or something. Was it not apparent to everyone how well the Flames did without Bollig in the lineup last game? Now just because he's healthy, he automatically gets slotted in? Let's hope he at least continues on his recent path of not being a human disaster – maybe he could ever score one again? I'm sure that would get a reaction out of Quick.

by saltysyd