Tkachuk, Doughty set to resume rivalry

CALGARY • Another year, another round of Tkachuk vs. Doughty.

One of the most actionpacked, throwback, player-versus-player rivalries in the NHL today will be renewed Tuesday when Matthew Tkachuk and the Calgary Flames (1-1) play host to Drew Doughty and the Los Angeles Kings (0-1).

They’ ll downplay it. They’ll say it doesn’t exist (well, Doughty more so than Tkachuk). But it’s obvious it’s there. No doubt, when No. 19 and No. 8 are on the ice, all eyes will be on them.

Here are 5 Things to Watch for on Tuesday:

BIG SAVE DAVE

The Flames have had a penchant for taking penalties during the first two games of the season, which has made netminder David Rittich’s job harder than it needs to be. It’s early, but they have been short-handed 12 times in two games, which is among the most penalized teams in the league. “I will get more shots, for sure,” Rittich said. “You’re moving so much in your zone and going back and forth and shots can come from everywhere. You don’t want to see it anymore.”

STAY OUT OF THE BOX

The message Monday was for the Flames to avoid taking too many infractions and putting the team on the penalty kill. “There are penalties that are avoidable … the sticks, we can put them away. We can have better angles. We can check without taking penalties,” said Flames head coach Bill Peters. “A lot of our penalties are our guys being over-anxious, a little too excited about getting in there, trying to do too much sometimes … I want to get flow established, I want to play four lines.”

LOOCH IN L.A.

Seems like ages ago Milan Lucic was skating at the Staples Center as a Los Angeles King. It was one season and 81 regular season games in 2015-16, but there will be no love lost between him and his former teammates. “It was a great year for me, personally, and I’m still in touch with a lot of people from that organization,” Lucic said. “Like I’ve always said, once you hit the ice and the puck drops, you forget about those personal relationships and you play to win.”

HITTIN’ THE ROAD

The Flames head out on their first big road-trip of the 2019-20 NHL season after Tuesday’s home tilt. They’ll make a stop in Dallas on Thursday, Las Vegas on Saturday and San Jose on Sunday. Last season, the Flames had a 24-15-2 record away from the Dome.

THIS N’ THAT

This is the first of four meetings with the Kings this season. The next one is Oct. 19 at Staples Center … Flames RW Austin Czarnik missed Monday’s skate due to maintenance … LW Johnny Gaudreau leads the team with two goals and three assists in two games … C Sean Monahan has a pair of goals and an assist … RW Elias Lindholm has one goal and one assist in two games.