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Calgary Flames

Calgary Brings Their Road Winning Streak To LA

The open up a big West Coast trip with a stop in LA.

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Calgary Flames @ LA Kings, 8:30 PM MT, Staple Center, Los Angeles CA



Calgary Flames 13-4-5 (31 pts) – LA Kings 9-8-4 (22 pts)

TV: SNW – Radio: Sportsnet 960

Odds: Calgary (+120) LA (-140) O/U: 5.5

If it seems like the Flames just were on the road, well, itโ€™s because they were. The Flames had a mini three game home stand which went well for them (2-1-0), but that came on the heels of a very long and very successful seven game/eleven day road trip that saw them go 4-1-2. And here they are, back on the road again, this time for four games in six days and it might not be so bad. The Flames are one of the best road teams in the league this season, sporting a 9-2-2 record away from the Scotiabank Saddledome and Calgary has won four in on the road. Theyโ€™ve only played one game away from Calgary in the Pacific, that was their 5-2 opening night loss to the Edmonton Oiler back on October 16th.

Their first test on this road trip will be a stop in the City Of Angels to take on the free falling LA Kings. Remember when the Kings were making a push and riding high on a seven game winning streak? Those days are gone. LA has dropped six of their last seven and are looking more like the team that started the season also losing six out of itโ€™s first seven. You have to give it to the Kings though, they are consistent in the fact that they are streaky.

Offence has been a sore spot for the Kings during this current run of futility seeing LA has scored only 13 goals in those six losses, one game a 2-0 blanking by the Washington Capitals. The Kings have scored 56 goals this season, which is good for 6th worst overall and theyโ€™re hosting a Calgary team with the best goaltending tandem in the NHL in Jacob Markstrom and Dan Vladar. LAโ€™s going to have a hard time finding the back of the net against a team thatโ€™s allowed a league low 43 goals on the season.

This is the start of an important run for the Flames in the Pacific Division. California hasnโ€™t always been kind to the Flames and Vegas has been a nightmare since they have come into the league. However, it appears the hockey gods may have eased up on Calgary a little as theyโ€™re catching LA, Anaheim, San Jose and Vegas while the Flames are playing well and their opponents arenโ€™t. None of these are guaranteed wins, but if Calgary keeps playing smart hockey like they have been, they could give themselves a nice lead in the division and send some of these teams further into the basement in the Pacific.

Puck drop is at 8:30 PM MT from the Staples Center.

Head To Head
Calgary Flames LA Kings 
13-4-5  Record  9-8-4 
31  Points  22 
 Pacific (2nd) Division  Pacific (6th) 
 71  GF  56 
43 GA  58 
Mangiapane (15)  Goals Leader  Kopitar (8) 
 Gaudreau (25) Points Leader  Kopitar (23) 
Lucic (31)  PIM  Lemieux (32) 
Vladar (.946)  Save%  Quick (.924) 
24.6 (7th)  PP  18.3 (19th) 
87.0 (5th)  PK  76.5 (27th) 
4-1-0  Last 5  1-2-2 
 138-114-21 Overall VS  114-138-21 

Starting Goalies (E=Expected,C=Confirmed)
Player Record GAA Save%
Flames: Markstrom (E)  9-4-4  1.75  .938 
Kings: Quick (E)  4-5-2  2.25  .928 

Injury Report
LA Kings
Andreas Athanasioiu- Covid
IR 
Brendan Lemieux- Suspension
OUT 
Sean Walker- Knee
IR 
Quinton Byfield- Ankle
IR 
Akil Thomas- Undisclosed
IR-NR 

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Adrian Kempe (F): 4 points in last 5 games

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Dustin Brown (F): 1 point in last 9 games

by Mark Parkinson