Matchup against Flames could light fire for Kings
If the Kings had let a tiny bit of malaise seep into their game during a successful stretch that has mostly pitted them against non-playoff teams at home, maybe a good, old-fashioned cage match will reinvigorate the black and silver.
Today, they'll welcome the Calgary Flames and coach Darryl Sutter, who guided the Kings to two Stanley Cups and famously said of the atmosphere he expected during road games in the playoffs that “cages are a good thing.”
The two sides will be slugging it out with differing goals: The Kings are two points behind Western Conference leader Vegas, while defending Pacific Division champion Calgary is fighting for its very playoff life.
Calgary currently sits four points behind Winnipeg for the final wild-card berth. If both teams were to secure those positions, it would set up a firstround meeting between the Kings and Flames.
There were plenty of positives in the Kings' most recent game. They scored both their goals off turnovers, one near the neutral zone and another right behind the opposing net. The Kings owned the faceoff circle and for much of the third period were flirting with a shot total four times that of the Vancouver Canucks. The Kings allowed two goals, bringing their streak of games with two or fewer allowed to eight, and taxed opposing goalie Thatcher Demko.
The negative? They ended up losing 3-2 in a shootout.
“The chances we got were well-executed chances and we were pretty solid in our end,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “Usually when a coach is saying that, he's leaving quite pleased and the team has won, but sometimes these things happen.”
Special teams played a significant role in the loss, with the Kings ceding a rapid-fire goal after their only penalty of the night and continuing to have their power play appear powerless.
The Kings' man-advantage units rank sixth in the NHL. Yet in the month of March, they've converted a meager 11.5% of their opportunities, the secondworst rate in the league.
The Kings have been without their most talented playmaker, winger Kevin Fiala (lower-body injury), since March 9, and without defenseman Sean Durzi (apparent head injury), who quarterbacks the second unit, since March 6.
“There's no doubt about it, they're important pieces and they're creative, they're effective, they're dynamic, both of them in their own way,” McLellan said. “Each of them belongs to a unit, so all of a sudden both units are affected and others are trying to fill in and they're doing a good job.”
For Calgary, a five-game skid last month was the latest setback in its pursuit of another playoff berth with a very different cast from last season's. Gone are Johnny Gaudreau to free agency, Matthew Tkachuk to a trade, Sean Monahan to a salary dump and Oliver Kylington to a nebulous personal situation that has kept him in Sweden all season.
Their replacements have been a mixed bag. Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri have seen significant drops in production in Sutter's more checking-oriented system. Defenseman MacKenzie Weegar has been a plus11 player this season and experienced an offensive awakening recently with seven points in nine March games. Another blue-liner, incumbent Rasmus Andersson, has paced Calgary with nine points in as many matches this month.
Of late, the Flames have traded blows with other Western heavyweights: The Flames beat the division-leading Golden Knights in Las Vegas 7-2 on Thursday and lost 6-5 at home in overtime to the Central Division-topping Dallas Stars on Saturday. Winger Tyler Toffoli, one of four former Kings on the Calgary roster, leads the Flames in scoring this season.