It’s a phrase we’re going to trot out constantly around these parts – at least until they get an X next to their name in the standings – but tonight’s game between the Calgary Flames and the Los Angeles Kings at the Scotiabank Saddledome is a big, big game. Yes, even bigger than their last game at the Saddledome a couple weeks ago.
Things have gone well for the Flames lately. They’ve won a lot. They’re relatively healthy. They can make life much, much easier for themselves down the stretch with a regulation win. That outcome would put the Kings 11 points back of the Flames. If they’re 11 points back with 10 games to go, they ain’t catching them.
The puck drops at 7:30 p.m. MT on Sportsnet One (and West) and Sportsnet 960 The Fan!
THE FLAMES
Lines via Daily Faceoff:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Matthew Tkachuk |
 Mikael Backlund |
 Michael Frolik |
 Johnny Gaudreau |
 Sean Monahan |
Alex Chiasson
|
 Kris Versteeg |
Matt Stajan |  Troy Brouwer |
 Lance Bouma |
Sam Bennett | Curtis Lazar
|
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Mark Giordano |
 Dougie Hamilton |
 T.J. Brodie |
Michael Stone
|
 Matt Bartkowski |
Deryk Engelland |
Brian Elliott starts yet again, as he’s been very, very good lately. He’s 22-13-3 with a 2.47 goals against average and a .911 save percentage. He was still recovering from the flu on Friday and managed to make many nice saves in the win. He would’ve had a shutout had T.J. Brodie not served up a softie in his own end.
The only real change we may see is Sam Bennett starting the game with Lance Bouma and Alex Chiasson on the fourth line. Bennett spent the last two periods centering the fourth line on Friday and was decent, if unspectacular. The challenge for him right now is that he’s been consistently decent, but it’s not translating into goals at a time of year where they’re the only thing that really matters. Considering how important line matching is going to be in a game like this one, the outcome of the game itself may rely on Calgary’s bottom six being more productive than the Kings’.
Update It looks like Ferland’s absense will be related to a potential mumps scare
#LAKvsCGY Update: Micheal Ferland will not play tonight. He is under observation for the mumps.
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) March 19, 2017
THE KINGS
Lines via Daily Faceoff:
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 Dustin Brown |
 Anze Kopitar |
 Jarome Iginla |
 Tanner Pearson |
 Jeff Carter |
 Tyler Toffoli |
 Adrian Kempe |
 Trevor Lewis |
 Marian Gaborik |
 Kyle Clifford |
 Nic Dowd |
 Andy Andreoff |
| Defensive Pairings | |
|---|---|
 Derek Forbort |
 Drew Doughty |
 Jake Muzzin |
 Paul Ladue |
 Kevin Gravel |
 Alec Martinez |
Most likely, Jonathan Quick starts for the Kings; they’ve had a bunch of back-to-backs lately and Quick always starts the first game. He’s 5-1-1 with a 2.02 goals against average and a .928 save percentage. He’s been really good lately for the Kings, and really has been since coming back from injury a few weeks ago.
The Kings are generally healthy, which is great, because this is the first game of a crucial back to back for them. They’re in Calgary tonight and Edmonton tomorrow. Two wins really helps them close the gap with Nashville and Calgary for a wildcard spot. Two losses probably kills their playoff chances for good.
THE NUMBERS
| FLAMES | KINGS | |
| Wins | 40 | 34 |
| Points (Pct.) |
84 (592.) |
75 (.536) |
| Power Play | 19.9% | 19.2% |
| Penalty Kill | 81.1% | 85.1% |
| Score-Adjusted Corsi | 50.7% | 54.7% |
HISTORY LESSON
In 232 head to head games with Los Angeles, the Flames are 117-89-26. This is the third of five games between these teams this year. The home team has won every game between them so far this season.
KNOW THY ENEMY
Some Kings follows for tonight’s contest:
MAGIC NUMBERS
The Flames enter tonight’s game with a magic number of 8. A regulation win drops their magic number to 6, and basically puts the Kings on the ropes. (Los Angeles plays in Edmonton on Monday, and Calgary’s magic number could conceivably drop even further.)
SUM IT UP
It’s the Flames’ second of four big games with Los Angeles during their stretch drive. They showed up big-time in their last meeting with the Kings and gave themselves some much-needed breathing room. They can take away the Kings’ breathing room with another strong performance tonight.
Flames official site says Ferland has been feeling sick and will be a game time decision. It has Chiasson up with Gaudreau and Monahan, Stajan centering Versteeg/Brouwer, and Bennett centering Lazar/Bouma. Don’t know what to make of that.
Would be interesting to see Lazar (although obviously hope Ferland is ok) and whilst probably not the game I also want to see Andersson get some game time.
If that’s the case, I’m not holding my breath for a win. All the player/line changes will have players playing tentative, over-thinking.
Ferland under observation for the mumps.
Fuuu…
Wideman in and not even a mention?!
YOU CAN’T SLIP THAT PAST ME!!
Booo Wideman!
Flames site has Stone in so I will chalk this up to more Pike beating the Wideman drum
Because he didn’t mention it in the write-up I’m assuming this was simply a mistake either by Daily Faceoff or when importing the lines. We all know if Wideman draws in it is worthy of a mention. I believe Stone is playing tonight and Wideman is out.
In Garys fickled world of parity and loser points, there is one more tool at his disposal to ensure that maximum number of teams are in it to the bitter end.That would be the officials,and in to-nites game Gary will be rooting for the Kings to remain in the picture.Flames will need to score early.
to-nites? This post reads like a flat earth believer.
Win and the Kings are done.
Go Flames Go!
Go LA !!!!
Ha! Why bother?
Not sure what up with your line ups.. perhaps a cut and paste form another game?.. Go to the Flames web site, Wideman not in, Top line is different and Stone is in.
“Stajan, grab onto this chain! Oh, by the way, theres an anchor tied to it. See you at the bottom!”
Man Ferland not playing really messes with the lines. I didn’t like the whole Chiasson with Gaudreau and Monahan experiment. Huge game and ferland being out really sucks. Chiasson better be ready to throw the body around.
Why are there some posts near the top that were posted only a few minutes ago, new site really needs some upgrading. GFG
Those would be replies to earlier posts. The new site was design to be counter-intuitive
The vertical line at the side means that it’s a reply to the comment above it. It keeps the thread together instead of requiring people to post the quote of what they are responding to. It’d used on reddit and I love the format there, but for some reason it’s just not working out as well here.
I really think the format of this new site is terrible
Ferland being monitored for the mumps
I’m actually excited about Lazar. Still kinda shiny!
MUMPS !
Time to see just how deep the Flames are…
I see the Nations IT guy is the same as IT people everywhere. Set up new programs that lack common sense and than take a year to fix them. Meanwhile he’s in a closet playing the newest video games.
Lomberg signs two-way contract. I LOVE the way that guy plays.
Stanley Cups are won with your top players producing and your bottom 6 guys contributing as well….I can imagine a future 4th line of Lomberg/Bennett/Hathaway. High energy, bangers, crashers, top speed, relentless effort!
My Mumps, my Mumps, my Mumps! Check ’em out!
Apologies for the line confusion, folks. Been out and wireless is spotty. Finally updated! 🙂
I heard that Ferland tried to pass the mumps on to Brouwer…..but unfortunately it jumped over Troys stick….
WW
Had to reset my forgotten password and login just to tell you I Lmfao at your comment.
Har Har! Stay on the sherbets Wally, that was a beauty.
You do Crack off a good one every once in a while
Can the Flames be penalized for coughing in the other team?
Let’s hope we don’t have a mumps epidemic like the Canucks… shudder. Looking forward to seeing Lazar although having Ferland out sure messes with our lines. It’s like our defence with Stone out… not a lot of depth. GFG!
Don’t like our chances tonight, lines all mixed up, new kinks in lineup. Hope the guys surprise me and play like they want it more
Kinks? Omg, *new kids in the lineup
Hit Johnny every chance you get.
You should never hit your “Johnny”, Oilers4Ever….
What a snipe from Monny!
Yeah! Show’em the Monny!
If that’s Wideman, it goes high and wide 🙂
Nice slapper by Stone chases Quick from the net
Sure good to have Stone back. Also noticed that Chaser is playing well with Monny/Johnny. And we dodged a bullet with the Jeff Carter shot that hit the post.