Game Preview: Flames vs Los Angeles Kings

CALGARY FLAMES (21-19-5 47 points) vs. L.A KINGS (21-15-8 50 points) GAME #46

PREVIEW:

What an eventful night to say the least, I don’t think I have ever gone out to watch a Flames game and barely watched the game. That was the case Thursday night, the Flames and Ducks game was on the back burner as GM Jay Feaster was busy acquiring/brining back Mike Cammalleri. Cammalleri returns to Calgary along with goaltender Karri Ramo and a 5^th round draft pick, going back to Montreal Rene Bourque, prospect Patrick Holland and a 2^nd round draft pick. I think this is a great trade for the Flames, I thought Cammalleri should have never left in the first place but that’s how it is in the cap world. Bourque is horribly inconsistent and in my eyes played his hardest when the other team had an empty net, which should sum up Bourque as a hockey player. The Flames are a better team than they were Wednesday and even with some people questioning giving up another high draft pick (the Flames don’t have a 2^nd round pick this year or next), I think when you’re acquiring a player like Cammalleri, the draft pick is expendable. By the way, the Flames beat the Ducks, 1-0 on an overtime goal by Blair Jones, his first as a Flame.

The eventful week continues for the Flames tonight as they host the L.A Kings and welcome Darryl Sutter back to the Dome. I really hope Darryl gets booed as soon as he steps on the bench. The Kings are another team who some think have under achieved but Sutter has them playing good hockey since he took over with a 6-1-4 record and overall the Kings have points in 11 of their last 12. The Kings are once again led offensively by Anze Kopitar but their MVP thus far has been goaltender Jonathan Quick. Quick is 5^th in the league in both GAA (1.98) and save percentage (.932) and leads the league in shutouts with 6 to go along with 18 victories. A healthy Mike Richards has been a plus for the Kings, who missed 8 games in December with an upper body injury, to give them a nice 1-2 punch down the middle with Kopitar.

The acquisition of Cammalleri instantly gives the Flames some much needed secondary scoring as the Flames top line of Jarome Iginla, Olli Jokinen and Curtis Glencross have accounted for nearly 50% of the Flames goals since December the 1^st. Cammalleri will start on a line with Mikael Backlund and Lee Stempniak. Putting Cammalleri with Backlund might be what Backlund needs to get going offensively, who has only managed 8 points (3g, 5a) in 30 games since missing the start of the season with a hand injury. If the Flames continue to play a strong team game and Cammalleri adds some offense the Flames winning streak should extend to 4 and 9^th in a row at home tonight against the Kings. I really hope the Flames dominate and win big tonight, it would be a perfect home coming for Darryl, who in my mind should never ever run another hockey team (GM that is).

PROJECTED LINES:

Flames:                                                                                    Kings:

1-GLENCROSS-JOKINEN-IGINLA                                            1-BROWN-KOPITAR-WILLIAMS

2-CAMMALLERI-BACKLUND-STEMPNIAK                               2-PENNER-RICHARDS-STOLL

3-BYRON-JONES-COMEAU                                                     3-RICHARDSON-LOKTIONOV-LEWIS

4-KOSTOPOULOS-BOUMA-JACKMAN                                    4-CLOFFIORD-FRASER-HUNTER

1-BOUWMEESTER-BUTLER                                                    1-SCUDERI-DOUGHTY

2-BRODIE-SARICH                                                                   2-MITCHELL-VOYNOV

3-GIORDANO-BABCHUK                                                          3-JOHNSON-GREENE

1-KIPRUSOFF                                                                          1-QUICK

2- IRVING                                                                                  2-BERNIER

EXTRA- MORRISON, HORAK, WILSON                                  EXTRA- WESTGARTH, MARTINEZ, DREWISKE   

INJURIES:

Flames: LW- Alex Tanguay (Upper Body- IR), C- David Moss (Lower Body-IR), C- Matt Stajan (Ankle-IR), D- Scott Hannan (Upper Body-IR), D- Derek Smith (Ankle-IR), G- Henrik Karlsson (Knee-IR)

Kings: LW- Simon Gagne (Concussion- IR), LW- Scott Parse (Lower Body- IR)

STATS:

Flames

Kings

PP-

Flames: 16.8% (19^th)

Kings: 14.7% (23^rd)

PK-

Flames: 82.4% (16^th)

Kings: 88.9% (3^rd)

WESTERN CONFERENCE STANDINGS:

DID YOU KNOW?

• Blair Jones’ GWG in overtime on Thursday was the third time in franchise history that a player’s first goal with the club came in overtime. Shean Donovan and Tim Sweeney were the other two players to accomplish the feat.
• Curtis Glencross leads the league in shooting percentage with 18 goals on 74 shots (24.3%).
• Kiprusoff is 10-0-1 with a 1.71 GAA in his last 11 home starts against the Kings.
• This is the first match-up of the season between the two teams, as the Kings won 3 of 4 last year by one goal. Two of the wins were also in shootouts.
• Brent Sutter needs 1 win to reach 200 for his career.
• Miikka Kiprusoff is 7 games away from becoming the Flames franchise leader in games played for a goaltender.
• Jonathan Quick is 6-1-3 in his last ten starts with a 1.45 GAA and .947 spct.
• 5 of Dustin Brown’s 11 goals and 4 of Jack Johnson’s 7 have been GWG.