Recap: Calgary Flames 0 @ LA Kings 5

Calgary Flames 0 LA Kings 5

The Flames rolled into LA to try and stop a 4 game skid against the Kings dating back to last season and well, not so much.

Calgary stayed afloat for most of the first period thanks to Brian Elliott. The Flames couldn’t seem to get the puck out their own end and Elliott stood tall and made some solid saves. Adding to the Flames troubles in their own end were 2 back to back penalties by Nicklas Grossmann and Dougie Hamilton that gave LA 4 minutes of power play time, part of it a 5 on 3. Elliott held strong and was a major part of the Flames killing 3 out of the 4 minutes all on his own. Late in the period Johnny Gaudreau turned the puck over in the neutral zone and the Kings were finally able to take advantage of the Flames mistakes. Dustin Brown took the puck and as quick as the turnover happened, he fed Jeff Carter for the Kings first goal of the night. A mere 35 seconds later Devin Setoguchi beat Brian Elliott and the Kings took a 2-0 lead into the locker room. It’s a miracle that the score was only 2-0 as the Kings fired 15 shots at the Flames goal in the 1st as compared to the Flames mere 5.

The second period started off better for the Flames as they were able to put some pressure on the Kings, but they got nothing out of their better play. The Kings on the other hand? They capitalized AGAIN on sloppy Flames hockey. At 8:11 Nick Shore beat Grossmann to the puck, out muscled him, out skated him and fed Kyle Clifford over a “sprawling” Grossmann to beat Brian Elliott making the score 3-0. With a little under 3 minutes left in the period Dougie Hamilton turned the puck over in the Flames end and the Kings once again made the Flames pay. Dustin Brown picked up his 2nd assist of the game as his shot was collected by Devin Setoguchi (in front of Grossmann) and the Kings were staked to a 4-0 lead. The second period saw the Kings pelt Brian Elliott with shots. LA once again fired 15 shots on goal giving them 30(!) after 2 periods , compared to the Flames 12.

The 3rd period picked up where the 2nd left off. 1:12 seconds into the period T.J. Brodie attempted to clear the puck off the boards and the puck never made it out of the zone. Drew Doughty kept the puck in and fired a shot to the net that was tipped out front by Trevor Lewis and managed to find it’s way to the back of the net, putting the Kings up 5-0. That’s what the score would stay at for the rest of the game. Calgary never pushed back and LA cruised to victory. On the positive front for Calgary they managed 11 shots on net in the period, but none could get passed Peter Budaj.

The Flames will have to put this nightmare behind them and move on to an even worse scenario as they head to Honda Center to take on the Ducks on Sunday night.

Flame of the Game

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Brian Elliott, for not quitting after the second period. Elliott faced 39 shots tonight and had NO help in front of him. He allowed 5 goals, but not one of the 5 were his fault. His record, GAA and Save % will suffer in the stats column, but none of tonight was his fault. To prove the point: Brett Kulak and Deryk Engelland were the only players not in the negative column tonight. both were an even 0. Dougie Hamilton and Nicklas Grossmann were both a -3. There’s only so much you can do as a goalie with that nonsense in front of you.