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G58 Calgary Flames @ Los Angeles Kings: Hello, old friend

February 12, 2020, 11:44 AM ET [29 Comments]
Todd Cordell
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Here are five things to watch when the Calgary Flames take on the Los Angeles Kings:

1. Matthew Tkachuk vs Drew Doughty

The game itself is the most important thing. The Flames need two points and Tkachuk isn’t going to do anything to jeopardize their chances of getting them – he’s more likely to draw a penalty than take one, as we all know.

I still think we could see some more fireworks from these two. Not necessarily in the way of a fight, but in the constant battling throughout the night.

Tkachuk and Doughty haven’t faced each other in a while, and the mini-rivalry probably lost some heat as a result, but nobody should doubt Tkachuk’s ability to rekindle a fire. He’s the ultimate pest, and it probably wouldn’t take all that much to get a rise out of an emotional player like Doughty – especially in the midst of such a frustrating season.

This is a fun little storyline to make the game more interesting.

2. Secondary scoring

The Flames have kicked off their four-game road trip in the best way imaginable, picking up consecutive 6-2 victories. What’s encouraging is it wasn’t just the top guys leading the charge, as has almost exclusively been the case this season. The bottom-6ers stepped up.

Two games is two games but Milan Lucic, Derek Ryan, Zach Rinaldo, Tobias Rieder, Dillon Dube, and Mark Jankowski *all* have multiple points on this road trip.

They’re not going to continue stuffing the scoresheet at this rate, of course, but if they can chip in here and there, it’ll go a long way towards keeping the team afloat while they deal with injuries to key defenders Mark Giordano and Travis Hamonic.

3. Future Flame watch

The Flames have routinely been linked to Tyler Toffoli in recent weeks. I expect that to continue so long as they remain in the playoff race because a) they need his scoring; b) the rumored asking price seems reasonable and; c) I think he could be a player they end up extending, thus making it easier to part with futures.

Toffoli leads the Kings in shot attempts, scoring chances, and points at 5v5. He is perhaps their best offensive player right now, and he’s getting plenty of opportunity to put his talents to use on the top line and power play. I think he might be the LA’s best bet to make some noise and take advantage of Calgary’s banged up defense.

4. Get to the net

This season, 36 different goaltenders have spent at least 1,500 minutes between the pipes. Only four of them have fared worse vs high-danger shots than Jonathan Quick, as he has a pathetic .793 save percentage against them (David Rittich, by comparison, is tied for 3rd with a .851 HDSV%).

Quick has always been somewhat prone to taking himself out of position but he used to have the athletic ability to sprawl back into place to make highlight saves. That’s gone now. He has a very tough time playing his angles and can no longer make up for it, and I think that’s a big reason for his struggles.

The Flames have done a very good job of generating looks around the net over the last few games. I think they could put up a big number if that’s the case again tonight.

5. A shooting gallery

Over the last 10 games the NHL’s leader in 5v5 shot generation is...the LA Kings? They may not have many finishers in their lineup, but generating shots is clearly not much of an issue. I doubt that will change in this one considering Michael Stone is playing a top-4 role.

This Kings team plays hard for Todd McLellan and still has the ability to tilt the ice for extended stretches (we’ve seen multiple periods this season where the Kings have outshot the Flames, like, 15-3) so David Rittich is going to have to be on his game. He may not face a ton of high-end looks, but he’s likely going to be tested frequently. He needs to keep his focus.

Here are the projected lineups:

Calgary

Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Elias Lindholm
Andrew Mangiapane - Mikael Backlund - Matthew Tkachuk
Milan Lucic - Derek Ryan - Dillon Dube
Zac Rinaldo - Mark Jankowski - Tobias Rieder

Noah Hanifin - Rasmus Andersson
T.J. Brodie - Michael Stone
Oliver Kylington - Brandon Davidson

David Rittich

Los Angeles

Alex Iaffalo - Anze Kopitar - Tyler Toffoli
Adrian Kempe - Jeff Carter - Dustin Brown
Trevor Moore - Blake Lizotte - Austin Wagner
Carl Grundstrom - Mike Amadio - Nikolai Prohorkin

Joakim Ryan - Drew Doughty
Alec Martinez - Sean Walker
Kurtis MacDermid - Matt Roy

Jonathan Quick

Puck drop is just after 10:00 p.m. Eastern and can be seen on SN1 and NBCSN.

Numbers via naturalstattrick.com

Recent posts:

On Backlund’s lack of scoring, potentially adding a defenseman, and more

Flames lose Mark Giordano for key stretch of games

Calgary’s three stars of the month for January

Five potential trade targets for the Flames

Four Flames questions as they enter the stretch run

Flames sign Rasmus Andersson to long-term extension
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