p.s. if anyone wants to add the Wideman reaction gif, now would be the time. I can't seem to find it anywhere.
Flames: 30-21-3, 63 points, 4th in the Pacific, 8th in the West, 15th in NHL.
Kings: 23-18-12, 58 points, 5th in the Pacific, 10th in the West, 19th in NHL.
Well that was short-lived. After 2 wonderful days sitting in 2nd in the Pacific, we experience some unfortunate OOT results we now sit 4th in the division. It’s ok though; another win tonight and we vault right back into 2nd. Unless one of these 3 teams goes on a prolonged winning or losing streak, we are going to have a heck of a finish between the Sharks, the Canucks, and us. It gets even more interesting because whoever is worst in that group has the possibility of being pushed out of the playoff picture by the surging Minnesota Wild, who currently sit just 4 points back of the 8th place team…namely the Calgary Flames. Oh, and 1 point behind the Wild, the L.A. Kings, our opponent tonight.
So, while this isn’t a “must-win” game (god I hate that phrase), it is pretty important, as all divisional games are. The good news in that regard is that the Flames own by far the best record against their division in the West at 17-4-1. The next closest in the West are the Predators at 13-4-3. By comparison, the Kings have an ok 7-3-6 record, but still have half their games to play against the division in the next couple of months. They aren’t entirely out of the equation, and they could win a lot of those divisional games and put themselves right back in the race, but to do so they’ll have to fix their road record. The King’s 16-6-6 home record is virtually wiped out by their woeful 7-12-6 road record, and that’s AFTER they managed 2 wins in a row to end their recent road trip. The Kings and Flames have very similar home goal totals, with both teams having 81 GF. The Kings have been particularly stingy at home, with just 63 GA compared to the Flames at 71. However, when they leave the Staples Center, something happens to them. Their offense dries up, scoring just 62 goals on the road, and they become much more porous defensively, giving up 74 GA. Conversely, while the Flames don’t score quite as much on the road with 72 GF, they do manage to shut teams down with just 65 GA. Just looking at the numbers, the Kings should win against the Flames in their own building, but that hasn’t been the case this year. The Flames are a perfect 3-0-0 against the Kings this year, including 2-0-0 at the Staples Center, but both wins were the result of an OT winner. It still counts though, and the Flames have already won another divisional matchup this year against a challenging opponent, so whatever happens tonight is gravy.
For the Flames, they’re starting to figure out how to win, and that is evidenced by the improvement to parts of their game that were lackluster for most of the year. The penalty kill has been pretty solid lately, pushing their percentage to 78.9%, which is roughly 2.5% higher than just a week or two ago. Interestingly, the Kings own a worse PK operating at 78.2%. Part of that improved PK has been the strong play of Hiller, who is really rounding into legit #1 starter form allowing 2.00 GAA over his last 5 games with a Sv% of .912. That's including 4 goals against and a .833 Sv% against Pittsburgh, so when he doesn't play against Sidney Crosby he's been lights out. The power play is slowly pulling out of a funk, climbing back to 20th in the league at 17.3%, but still has a long way to go to get back to over 20%, which is where they were at for nearly the first half of the season.
Improvement to the special teams, added to their already strong 5 on 5 play, consistent goaltending, high work ethic, leadership, strong coaching, and the ability to stay positive in the most trying of circumstances: These are all traits of not only a playoff team, but a team that could really make some noise in the playoffs. So for all the tension due to the placement in the standings, I'm not worried at all, and I'm actually genuinely excited for the second season. Tonight should be a tough battle again with a playoff atmosphere, but so far in those types of games the Flames have responded favorably. As long as they show up and battle tonight, I could care less about the outcome.
Roster Notes: Bollig and Byron are both healthy enough to play, but odds are that only one will return to the lineup. Tough to say which at this point, but if the Flames sit Wolf it will likely be Bollig purely for his size and ability to fight. Still no timeline on Smid's return, so defense should be the same. The Kings lost Martinez to a concussion recently, and will be out while they follow concussion protocol. Tanner Pearson is still out with a leg injury suffered a month ago.
Flames
Gaudreau-Monahan-Hudler
Bouma-Backlund-Jones
Glencross-Stajan-Raymond
Bollig-Jooris-Colborne
Giordano-Brodie
Russell-Wideman
Diaz-Engelland
Hiller
Kings
Gaborik-Kopitar-Lewis
King-Carter-Toffoli
Brown-Stoll-Williams
Clifford-Andreoff-Nolan
Regehr-Doughty
Muzzin-Greene
McNabb-McBain
Quick
Go Flames Go!!!