Losing to Buffalo stunk, but it's another day and another game. The Kings come to town tonight, and the Flames look to knock 'em off the throne.
There's not a lot of news this morning, so the set-up comes from
www.ottawacitizen.com, of all places:
Quote:
During their junior days as teammates with the Ontario Hockey League’s Ottawa 67’s, Tyler Toffoli filled the net and Sean Monahan did most of his damage as a set-up man. At the NHL level, both have proven to be marquee marksman. The 23-year-old Monahan has buried 21 times for the Flames this season, his fifth consecutive 20-goal campaign. Toffoli, 25, recently hit triple digits in big-league lamp-lightings. When the Kings arrived in Vancouver for Tuesday’s late date, he was tied for his team lead with 18 tallies.
This is exactly what Flames fans feared — that the local hockey heroes would lose their momentum during their four-day bye. The Flames had rolled to seven straight victories before their vacations but have settled for a pair of loser points in two out-of-sync showings since — Saturday’s shootout setback to the Winnipeg Jets and Monday’s overtime loss to the Buffalo Sabres. On a positive note, the Flames are still riding a nine-game point spree.
It’s hardly been a Happy New Year for Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty, Jonathan Quick & Co. Heading into Tuesday’s clash against the Vancouver Canucks, the Kings had struggled to a 2-6-0 record since the calendar flipped to 2018. They finally snapped a six-game losing skid with Sunday’s 4-2 doubling of the New York Rangers. A month ago, the Kings topped the Pacific Division standings. That lofty perch now belongs to the expansion Vegas Golden Knights.
These rivals have already hooked up twice this season, with the Flames winning both battles — a 4-3 overtime triumph at Staples Center in October and a 4-3 regulation victory earlier this month at the Saddledome. The Flames’ top-line tandem of Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan have combined for eight points in those contests. On the other side, resurgent right-winger Dustin Brown has two markers and a pair of assists.
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Line-ups (
www.dailyfaceoff.com). Totally unconfirmed and subject to change
FLAMES
Gaudreau - Monahan - Ferland
Tkachuk - Backlund - Brouwer
Bennett - Jankowski - Hathaway
Hrivik - Stajan - Lazar
Giordano - Hamilton
Brodie - Hamonic
Kulak - Stone
Rittich (unconfirmed)
(I assume they'll save Smith for tomorrow against Edmonton)
KINGS
Iafallo - Kopitar - Brown
Pearson - Kempe - Toffoli
Gaborik - Amadio - Lewis
Clifford - Shore - Mitchell
Forbort - Doughty
Muzzin - Martinez
Gravel - Folin
Kuemper (unconfirmed)
(Kuemper is also a guess, since Quick played in a 6-2 loss last night to Vancouver. Derek Forbort was injured last night, and may be a scratch)
And yeah, we all know this one's a biggie and the Flames gotta take the two points. "Regicide" is the operative word. That Darn Puppet and his pals suit up for a little fun:
Go Flames