Los Angeles Kings (6-3-0)
V.
Calgary Flames (3-2-2)
Home/Away Records
Los Angeles Kings Home: 2-1-0 Away: 4-2-0
Calgary Flames Home: 2-0-1 Away: 1-2-1
Last 10:
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Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Time: 7:30PM PST
Channels: Fox Sports West
Local Radio: AM 1150
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Leading Scorers:
Los Angeles Kings
Player
goals
assists
points
+/-
Anze Kopitar
0
8
8
+1
Jeff Carter
4
2
6
-2
Justin Williams
4
1
5
+1
Mike Richards
0
5
5
-2
Jake Muzzin
1
3
4
-4
Goaltender Stats
Player
W
L
OT
GAA
SV%
SO
Jonathan Quick
5
3
0
2.50
.913
0
Ben Scrivens
1
0
0
0.00
.939
1
Calgary Flames
Player
goals
assists
points
+/-
Jiri Hudler
4
5
9
+4
Sean Monahan
5
3
8
-1
Mark Giordano
2
5
7
-2
Lee Stempniak
2
4
6
-1
Mikael Backlund/th>
2
2
4
+1
Goaltender Stats
Player
W
L
OT
GAA
SV%
SO
Joey MacDonald
3
1
1
2.99
.891
0
Karri Ramo
1
1
0
4.35
.878
0
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Team Stats:
Category
Los Angeles Kings
Calgary Flames
Powerplay
18.8% (14th)
17.9% (16th)
Penalty Kill
89.2% (3rd)
69.6% (30th)
G/G
2.33 (21st)
3.29 (6th)
GA/G
2.44 (11th)
3.57 (28th)
S/G
30.7 (17th)
30.4 (20th)
SA/G
28.0 (8th)
30.4 (13th)
Faceoffs
53.9 (6th)
43.3 (30th)
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Los Angeles Kings Preview:
The Kings started off the home stand with a bang by coming up with a three-goal third period and a 5-2 victory over the Dallas Stars Saturday night. Now, for the first time this season they will face off against new divisional opponents the Calgary Flames. The Kings swept a three game season series last year against the Flames by a combined total score of 12-4. Even though less than a year separates this game and then, the Flames are taking on a different look and seem to be embracing the idea of rebuilding. With some young blood and a rather high flying offense the Flames are staying somewhat relevant early on in the season. Don’t take Calgary lightly.
While Anze Kopitar has been held off the scoresheet in terms of goals, he now has eight assists after a tremendous three helper performance against Dallas. In training camp and preseason Kopitar talked about a new shooters mentality that he had embraced, but honestly when you can put up an assist a game pace I’m not sure he needs to worry too much about goals. His line with Williams and Brown has slowly returned to a familiar status with each other it seems, and that will only help the big Slovenian in finding himself on the stat sheet and his team in the win column.
Maybe the biggest factor in the big 5-2 win Saturday was the balanced scoring and attack the Kings got from all four lines. Jordan Nolan had a particularly strong game and was rewarded with a few shifts with Carter and Richards. Clifford continued his strong run of form, contributing a goal. Finally the Kings got multi point nights from three out of six defenseman. While the top plays came to play in Williams, Kopitar, and Doughty, there was much to like about the complete effort of the roster from top to bottom.
Jake Muzzin had a noticeably improved look to his game upon returning to the lineup after being a healthy scratch in favor of Alec Martinez for five games. He made had two assists on the night and more importantly he was quick and assertive in his own zone. Poor defensive play is what found Muzzin in the pressbox previously, but he certainly looked to be taking steps forward on Saturday night. The Kings management can only hope that the competition between Martinez and Muzzin leads to more inspired play from the young blueliners moving forward.
Matt Greene was all over the stat sheet Saturday night. He had a goal, an assist, was a plus-two to go along with a game high eight hits and a game high four blocked shots.
The powerplay finally got off the snide and broke an 0-13 slide that started at the beginning of last road trip. The Kings only got three extra man chances against the Stars but made the best of it. Calgary has a league worst penalty kill at 69.6% so if the Kings can draw some calls it could go a long way in putting Calgary away. I should also mention that the Flames are dead last in faceoff percentage as well, which bodes well for the Kings. They are currently sitting just outside the top five in faceoffs.
You want to talk about physically imposing your game? The Kings walked away with 50 hits registered last night. The Kings statisticians are generally pretty liberal with hits but I went back as far as 2011-12 and could not find a game where the Kings hit 50.
Los Angeles Kings Lineup (Subject to change)
Dustin Brown - Anze Kopitar - Justin Williams
Daniel Carcillo - Mike Richards - Jeff Carter
Dwight King - Jarret Stoll - Trevor Lewis
Kyle Clifford - Colin Fraser - Matt Frattin
Scratches: Keaton Ellerby, Jordan Nolan, Alec Martinez
Players to Watch: Anze Kopitar, Jake Muzzin, Kyle Clifford, Daniel Carcillo
Calgary Flames Preview:
The Calgary Flames were picked by many to be a lottery team this season if not the favorite for the first overall selection in the upcoming draft. However they have started surprisingly well and have shown some gutsy victories as well as some close losses. That being said there are a ton of question marks about this team and the staying power for the Flames is relatively low in my opinion. With a goaltending tandem of Karri Ramo and Joey MacDonald, and a defense that has allowed a lot of goals and isn’t doing well on the penalty kill, it’s a recipe for a bit of a slide.
That being said there are some bright spots to this Calgary Flames squad. Rookie sensation Sean Monahan is nearing his decisive 10 game mark where the question facing the Flames is do you keep him or send him to juniors. Monahan has been tremendous though, and I think there is little question he should remain with the Flames at the NHL. His poise and leadership is something the Flames will be looking for with the departure of long time captain Jerome Iginla. He is second on the team in scoring and has really been a player to watch on a somewhat ordinary roster of blue collar players and hand me downs from other organizations.
Speaking of hand me downs, how about the hot start by Jiri Hudler? The former Red Wing had a decent year last season but was still talked about in the summer as a potential candidate for an amnesty buyouts. He carries a somewhat weighty $4.0 million dollar contract, but the Czech has really come out the gates firing this season. With nine points in the teams first seven games it looks like he has put all talk of amnesty buyout behind him for now.
Will all that in mind the line to watch for Calgary is Baertschi, Monahan, and Hudler. The line contains two of the Flames leading scorers, and two of the potential cornerstones of the organization in Baertschi and Monahan.
The goaltending tandem is obviously a big concern for the Flames, who seem ed ill prepared to deal with the departure of all-star goalie Mikka Kiprusoff. With Joey MacDonald and Karri Ramo manning the posts, the Flames have seen themselves give up a rather high amount of goals per game although the shot totals against have been very reasonable. Both goaltenders are currently holding save-percentages well under .900 so the Calgary defense is going to have to really come to the aid of their goaltenders if they want to stay close to the pack, as well as the offense continuing to score at a high rate. There aren’t going to be a lot of 1-0 and 2-1 games this year for Calgary.
The Flames are dead last in the league in faceoffs, and it’s no surprise when you look at the four centers they line up with; Mikael Backlund, Joe Colborne, Sean Monahan, and Ben Street. That’s not exactly strength or experience down the middle. Street, Backlund and Monahan are coming in at around 44% and Colborne rounds up the bunch with a 35% win rate.
There is a ton of scoring up and down the lineup right now, but mostly of the hot and cold variety for the Flames. David Jones, Glencross, Stempniak, Hudler, and Wideman are all players with extreme offensive potential who have put up solid numbers in the past. On any given day those players can wreck an opposing team’s night. When they go cold though it seems like they are shooting a beachball at a croquet wicket.
The Flames made a few roster moves on Sunday, calling up Roman Horak and Chris Breen being called up in exchange for Blair Jones and Derek Smith. Wether that corresponds to any roster changes remains to be seen. Michael Cammalleri is also a game time decision for Calgary.
Calgary Flames Lineup (Subject to change)
Curtis Glencross - Mikael Backlund - Lee Stempniak
T.J. Galiardi - Joe Colborne - Lance Bouma
Sven Baertschi - Sean Monahan - Jiri Hudler
Michael Cammalleri - Ben Street - Brian McGrattan
Mark Giordano - T.J. Brodie
Kris Russell - Dennis Wideman
Chris Butler - Shane O’Brien
Karri Ramo
Joey MacDonald
Scratches: Roman Horak, Chris Breen, Tim Jackman
Players to watch: Sean Monahan, Jiri Hudler, Sven Baertschi, Lee Stempniak
SCORING
First Period
Los Angeles Kings goal - 18:36 - Drew Doughty, Assists: D. Brown, J. Williams
Second Period
Calgary Flames goal (PPG) - 2:50 - Michael Cammalleri, Assists: J. Hudler, M. Giordano Calgary Flames goal (PPG) - 13:39 - Sean Monahan, Assists: M. Cammalleri, M. Giordano (2) Los Angeles Kings goal (SHG) - 16:40 - Jeff Carter, Unassisted
Third Period
Calgary Flames goal (PPG) - 19:30 - T.J. Brodie, Assists: J. Hudler (2), L. Stempniak
FINAL: 3-2 Calgary
My three stars
1st - Jiri Hudler
2nd - Michael Cammalleri
3rd - Mark Giordano
Postgame analysis
Simple: Too many penalties. The Kings all-around played a good game 5-on-5 but the penalties absolutely buried them. While I don't condone the embellishment of one Dennis Wideman the Kings have no one to blame but themselves. Allowing a very skilled offensive team in Calgary to get six chances on the powerplay is ridiculous. Not to mention that all three goals from Calgary were on the powerplay.
Michael Cammalleri was a tremendous boost to the Calgary Flames attack, and finished up the night with a goal and an assist. As usual Cammalleri had a great game against his former team and now has 11 points in 14 career games against the Kings.
Hudler continued to be the focal point of the Calgary offense, as he has been so far this season alongside Sean Monahan who also got on the scorecard. The assist on the final goal was a beauty as Hudler found an open lane from behind the net with a nice saucer pass out to T.J. Brodie for the winner. The former Red Wing now has 11 points in 8 games.
The Kings massacred the Flames on the draw, as expected. They won 44 faceoffs to Calgary's 25 and no player on the team was below 50%. The Kings also had tons of heavy hits in the game including a number from former Flame Robyn Regehr who finished up the game with a team high five. However, the stats that mattered fell in favor of the Flames.
Kopitar, Doughty, Carter, and Regehr all had minor penalties tonight. That is a double whammy for the Kings as not only is that a standard disadvantage for two minutes, those four players are key fixtures in the King penalty killing units. No surprise that the goal came off the powerplays in which Doughty and Kopitar were sitting.
Calgary captain Mark Giordano played a game high 28:32 in icetime and also had two assists and four blocked shots. He continues his strong start, much like many Flames players, with 9 points in 8 games.
Lack of finish haunted the Kings again, as many loose puck scrambles in front of the net ended in pucks being directed into the corners or Ramo simply covering for a whistle. The team also hit at least three posts from what I can remember and whiffed on several second chance efforts. It simply looked at times like it wasn't the Kings night, as a normally stellar penalty kill gave up three and several chances were near misses, posts, or bouncing pucks.
The Kings have a two day break before taking on Phoenix on Thursday which could be a very angry performance given tonight's result and the history between the two clubs (2011-12 Post-season and 2013-14 pre-season altercations).
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Pacific Buzz(with Carol Schram(VAN) and Jason Lewis(LA) Recorded 10/20/13
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