Five things to watch when the Calgary Flames take on the Los Angeles Kings:
1. An underrated line The Carl Grundstrom, Adrian Kempe, Tyler Toffoli line may not be overly scary on paper, but the numbers they've put up since being assembled certainly are. They've out-attempted opponents 74-46 (61.98 CF%) and out-chanced them 35-13 (72.92 SCF%) through almost 70 minutes of 5v5 hockey. They're not going to continue dominating like that over a large sample size – nobody does – but the Kings sure look to have found something with this trio. I imagine they'll see a fair bit of Calgary's top line. With Sean Monahan looking like a shell of himself right now, LA2 just might hold up better in that matchup than you'd think.
2. Matthew Tkachuk vs Drew Doughty Doughty has shared the ice more with Kopitar this season than any other forward on the Kings. If that's the case again tonight, or close to it, Doughty figures to see plenty of his good friend Matthew Tkachuk with 3M set to match against Kopitar's line. As we all know, Tkachuk is a big-time shit disturber (I mean that in the best way possible). I don't know that he'll target Doughty because of their history, but I have no doubt he'll target Doughty because he's the kind of player who will bite on Tkachuk's antics and he lives to stir the pot. I think both players are at their best when engaged physically and emotionally, and I doubt that'll be an issue in this one. It should be fun to watch.
3. Team discipline Only eight teams have taken more minors per 60 minutes of play than the Flames. Discipline can and has been an issue, especially of late. There's a reason the Flames have had more power plays than their opponent just once over the last 10 games. To me, that's the Kings' path to staying in this game. They're probably not going to accomplish much against a far superior 5v5 team. At least they shouldn't. But if they can get an extra power play or two, and convert, the game could be a lot closer than anyone would like.
4. Poor goaltending If you enjoy goals, this is probably the game for you. Mike Smith and Jonathan Quick have objectively been two of the league's worst goaltenders this season and, no, that's not an overstatement.
At 5v5, Mike Smith owns a .908 save percentage. That ties him with a washed Roberto Luongo for 46th among 52 goaltenders who have logged at least 1,000 minutes of ice. Somehow, Jonathan Quick has fared even worse posting a .904 save percentage to date. Only Martin Jones and Keith Kinkaid, Columbus' 3rd stringer, sit below Quick.
5. James Neal's cold streak It feels like the whole season has been one big cold spell. There are some signs to suggest he might finally be coming out of it, though. Dating back prior to the injury, Neal's recorded 32 shot attempts and 19 scoring chances over the last nine games. He wasn't rewarded on the scoreboard, of course, but he can still shoot the puck. If he continues to generate shots and chances, the goals *should* be there eventually. Maybe the tide will finally start to turn tonight.
Here are the projected lineups:
Calgary
Johnny Gaudreau -Sean Monahan - Elias Lindholm Matthew Tkachuk - Mikael Backlund - Michael Frolik James Neal - Mark Jankowski - Austin Czarnik Andrew Mangiapane - Derek Ryan - Garnet Hathaway
Mark Giordano - T.J. Brodie Noah Hanifin - Travis Hamonic Oscar Fantenberg - Rasmus Andersson
David Rittich
Los Angeles (via DailyFaceoff.com)
Alex Iafallo - Anze Kopitar - Dustin Brown Carl Grundstrom - Adrian Kempe - Tyler Toffoli Brendan Leipsic - Jeff Carter - Trevor Lewis Austin Wagner - Kyle Clifford - **
Derek Forbort - Drew Doughty Alex Martinez - Matt Roy Sean Walker - Paul Ladue Kurtis MacDermid - **
Jonathan Quick
Puck drop is just after 9:00 eastern and can be seen on SNW and FS-W.
Numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com
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