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Hot Pursuit: Flames-Kings Game Day |
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It’s an eerily quiet week for the Calgary Flames.
They play a mere two games in seven days as the schedule carries on toward the March 8 NHL Trade Deadline. One against a Pittsburgh Penguins team desperate for wins on Saturday, and the other? An LA Kings group tonight that can’t seem to decide whether they are hot or cold.
Let's get to it.
Calgary Flames (28-25-5, 61 pts) vs La Kings (29-18-10, 68 pts)
Last Ten: Calgary (7-3-0) LA (7-3-0)
Season Series: 1-0-0 Kings
Time: 7:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.
TV: Sportsnet One, Sportsnet West, Bally Sports West, ESPN+
Familiar Netminders
Regardless of whom LA Kings head coach Jim Hiller opts to roll out in net, the goaltender will have a past with the Calgary Flames. The current tandem LA is running with is Cam Talbot and David Rittich.
Rittich, who was traded away to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2021 in the only instance of the Flames retaining salary (a trade that netted the third used to acquire Nikita Zadorov) played last night and will likely serve as backup tonight to Cam Talbot, who left via free agency after the 2019-2020 season.
The two have a combined record of 25-17-8 this season.
Hot Pursuit
Calgary currently sits seven points behind LA, who hold the top wilcard spot in the West. The odds of catching up to the Kings are slim, but stranger things have happened over the course of the history of the NHL.
Nashville currently holds the last wildcard spot and has a five-point lead on the Flames with 66 points.
Up and Down
The Calgary Flames have been extremely hot and cold of late. Heading into the game on a three-game winning streak, a strange trend has been noted.
Flames since December 9:
4 losses
3 wins
2 losses
3 wins
2 losses
4 wins
4 losses
4 wins
3 losses
3 wins
Will it continue tonight? Time will tell.
Calgary Flames Projected Lineup
Zary-Kadri-Pospisil
Mangiapane-Backlund-Coleman
Huberdeau-Sharangovich-Hunt
Pelletier-Rooney-Duehr
Hanifin-Tanev
Weegar-Andersson
Kylington-Pachal
Markstrom
Vladar
LA Kings Projected Lineup
Laferriere - Kopitar - Kempe
Moore - Danault - Fiala
Anderson-Dolan - Dubois - Byfield
Lewis - Lizotte - Kaliyev
Gavrikov - Doughty
Moverare - Roy
Englund - Spence
Talbot
Rittich
Puck drops at 7:08 p.m. MST.
Trevor Neufeld
Stats courtesy of nhl.com.
Calgary Flames Blogger • 
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