Flames: 17-15-3, 37 points, 5th in the Pacific, 9th in the West, 18th league.
Kings: 17-11-6, 40 points, 4th in the Pacific, 8th in the West, 14th league.
The Flames have broken down the season into 7 game segments, and they had won the first four segments to start the year, putting them into a strong playoff position. Then came the streak in the last segment where the team went 0-6-1 for 1 point. Brutal for sure, but at least they can turn the page and start a new segment (or series if you will) and forget about the lack of results in the last one. Let's be honest here, if they win every segment for the rest of the year, this will likely be a playoff team. Is that a realistic expectation? I don't know for sure. Is this team as bad as their last segment? No way. Are they as good as their first four segments? Probably not, but they aren't that far away either. Tonight is a road game before a Holiday Break. This should be a game for them to leave everything on the ice and rest easy over that break. A win would give them peace of mind and let them breathe a little over those days off with family and friends. A loss would only compound their worries, and they would likely stew over it for those 4 days leading to them gripping their sticks even tighter when they come back. I would rarely call a game a "must win" game unless the team is on the verge of being eliminated from the playoffs, but this is as close to a must win as there is to turn a season around. A win tonight against the reigning Stanley Cup Champions on their ice after losing 8 straight games would be just the right confidence boost to a young team that is struggling to find their game. A loss wouldn't be a death knell, but I doubt they would play much better than .500 hockey the rest of the year if they don't win tonight.
So the Kings have been sitting waiting for the Flames since Saturday where they had a convincing win over the Coyotes that came after a win over the Blues where they scored 6 goals against a normally stingy team. This is following a rough Eastern road trip where they managed just 1 win in 5 games. 10 goals in their last 2 games does not bode well for the Flames, especially since the Kings have struggled to score for most of the early season outside of "That 70s Line", with the 17th ranked offense at 2.74 GF/G. Most of those recent goals were due to a Powerplay that scored on 5 of 11 opportunities. Unreal. The Kings leading scorer, Jeff Carter, has just one more point than our rookie Johnny Gaudreau, although he did pick up 7 points in his last 3 games and is red hot. Even hotter is Anze Kopitar who has 9 points in his last 3 games, including a 5 point night against St. Louis. Marion Gaborik also has 8 points in his last 4 games, including 6 goals. It should be noted as well that Tyler Toffoli has the same amount of points as Gaudreau. One player in particular who has struggled this year is Dustin Brown. The normally pugnacious power winger's game has been diminishing the past 2 seasons and is now on pace for just 14 goals and 24 points. Not only that, but he's brought down his line defensively too, with an uncharacteristically team worst -8.
The offensive struggles for the Kings have been problematic, but doesn't limit their success. This is still a team built on goaltending and defense. How impressive is it that they've lost Slava Voynov for nearly the entire season to date, and likely won't see him play for the team anytime soon, if ever again, and their defense doesn't miss a beat. How many teams can lose a player that plays top 4 minutes and was their 6th leading scorer last year with 34 points and not miss him significantly? It just speaks to the depth on defense and the coaching of Sutter to play a strong team defensive game. The Flames limping offense will have to find a way to beat a team that has the 6th best GA/G and an elite goaltender in Jonathan Quick who is having another Vezina worthy season with his 2.29 GAA and .923 Sv%. However despite having a strong defensive team, the Kings have only the 16th best Penalty Kill in the league, so this could be an opportunity to stimulate a Flames Powerplay that was at one time top 10 in the league and operating at over 20%. Someone for the Flames other than Hudler and Gaudreau needs to step up offensively. There have been signs of the team breaking out, but not enough to get over the hump. Defensively, the Flames have been pretty good, but somehow the puck has been ending up in the back of their net just a little more often than the opposition.
For whatever reasons this streak has gone on as long as it has, I think it ends tonight. The Kings were a team the Flames went 3-2-0 against last year, with a less talented team, and every game was a spirited, tight checking affair. I expect tonight to be no different. The Flames are hungry and the Kings are feeling good about themselves. It's the last game before the Kings go on a 5 day Holiday Break of their own on home ice and they might just be thinking ahead to spending time with their families and let the Flames in enough to steal 2 points.
Monahan has been practicing with Gaudreau and Hudler of late. No changes to the defense. Hiller has played the last two and done fairly well, and Ramo has been sick of late, so I think you see Hiller play again tonight. No confirmation yet.
Flames
Gaudreau-Monahan-Hudler
Raymond-Jooris-Colborne
Glencross-Granlund-Jones
Bouma-Stajan-Byron
Giordano-Brodie
Russell-Wideman
Diaz-Engelland
Hiller
Kings
Gaborik-Kopitar-Carter
Brown-Stoll-Williams
Pearson-Lewis-Toffoli
Clifford-Richards-King
Muzzin-Doughty
Martinez-Greene
McNabb-McBain
Quick
Alright, after a couple of GDTs where I was down I give a hearty…
GO FLAMES GO!!!
Flames @ Kings, 8:30 pm, SNW
