Preview: Calgary Flames vs. Los Angeles Kings
Tonight the Calgary Flames will be looking to break their 2-game losing streak as they head into the Staples Center in Los Angeles as they face off with the Los Angeles Kings.
As I said previously, the Flames have dropped their last 2 games, both on the road. The latest was their 6-2 loss against the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.
The Kings on the other hand are in the beginnings of a 2-game win streak. First, they defeated Shea Weber and the Nashville Predators in a Shootout on Thursday night. Then on Saturday, they made short work of Jamie Benn and the Dallas Stars with a score of 5-2.
The King have gotten off to a pretty solid start this season, going 6-3-0 in their first 9 encounters this season.
Right now, center Jeff Carter leads the team in goals with 4. Center Anze Kopitar has yet to register a single goal so far this season; however, he is leading the Kings in assists and overall points with 8.
Unfortunately, the Flames are not off to the same dynamic start, going 3-2-2 in their first 7 encounters this season.
On the other side of the ice, center Sean Monahan is lighting lamps for the Flames with a team leading 5 goals; however, it is left wing Jiri Hudler who is on top of scoring for the team with 4 goals and 5 assists for a total of 9 points.
The tale of the tape between these two teams is a back and forth one.
| Kings | Flames | |
| Goals Per Game | 2.33 | 3.29 |
| Goals Against Per Game | 2.44 | 3.57 |
| Shots on Goal Per Game | 30.67 | 30.43 |
| Penalty Minutes Per Game | 28 | 30.43 |
| Power Play Goals | 6 | 5 |
| Power Play Percentage | 18.8% | 17.9% |
| Penalty Kill Pecentage | 89.2% | 69.6% |
The two sides are pretty even when it comes to Shots on Goal; however, the Kings have had slightly more success capitalizing on their opportunities.
The only other big difference comes into play on their penalty kill percentage. The Kings are currently third in the National Hockey League with their 89.2% PK, whereas the Flames are dead last with their 69.6%. Considering that the Flames average just slightly high penalty minutes than the Kings, this could spell trouble for the Flames’ scoreboard.
Los Angeles Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick is currently 5-3-0 in his 8 appearances so far this season with a GAA of 2.99 and a Save Percentage of .913. Their backup goaltender Ben Scrivens is having an even better start to the season. He is undefeated in his one start this season with a GAA of 1.22 and a Save Percentage of .939.
Unfortunately for the Flames, their goaltenders are not having the same start to the season.
Goaltender Joey MacDonald is currently 3-1-1 in his 5 appearances with a GAA of 2.99 and a Save Percentage of .891. Karri Ramo is a little worse for wear with a GAA of 4.37 and a Save Percentage of .878.
While I am almost certain that the Flames will be shooting at Quick tonight, the Kings could be shooting at either goaltender.
The one thing I can say for sure is that if the Flames want to come out on top in this encounter, their offense is really going to have to step up and capitalize on every opportunity while keeping themselves as far away from the penalty box as possible. Otherwise, this one may become a high scoring game rather quickly.
Time: 10:30 p.m. EST
Network: SNET-W, FS-W