FGD 26: A clash with the Kings (7pm MT, SN West)

After their weakest effort in weeks against Dallas, the Calgary Flames (14-9-2, 30 points) are back at it as they host the Los Angeles Kings (9-15-1, 19 points) in a big divisional clash. The Pacific Division is, well, a garbage heap, and two points tonight could give the Flames breathing room at the top of that garbage heap.

The puck drops just after 7 p.m. MT on Sportsnet West and Sportsnet 960 The Fan.

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:

Mike Smith starts for the Flames, backed up by David Rittich – Smith won his last start against Arizona and Rittich lost his last start against Dallas, so it makes sense. The healthy scratches appear to be Dalton Prout and Andrew Mangiapane, freshly recalled from Stockton.

The Flames weren’t good against Dallas. They were loose in the defensive zone (in a bad way) and really couldn’t generate much with their breakouts. It’s the type of “burn the tape” game that induced Bill Peters to mention post-game that they were fortunate to get a point. They’ll be better against the Kings, if only because in many aspects of their game “better” is the only direction they can go.

The biggest thing to improve? Their power play. They needed a lot more from them against Dallas and it could be huge in a game against a tired Kings team that lost 24 hours ago in Edmonton and will be trying to keep things tight-checking at even strength.

Projected lines, via Daily Faceoff:

Since Jonathan Quick started in Edmonton, most likely backup Cal Petersen starts tonight. Last night’s healthy scratches were Oscar Fantenberg and Michael Amadio, and with Jon Rosen reporting that Ilya Kovalchuk is a no-go for tonight with an ankle injury we’ll likely see Amadio slot in. That’ll likely result in some shuffling of the bottom two forward lines.

The Kings are the worst team in the Pacific Garbage Patch. They have some serious issues with their roster construction and some cap problems, too. They played in Edmonton last night. This isn’t so much a game that the Flames should win as it is a game they need to win if they want to keep trending towards being a playoff team. Simply put: this is the type of game good teams find ways to win.

The Flames are without Juuso Valimaki, Michael Frolik and Michael Stone.

The Kings are without Gabe Vilardi, Jonny Brodzinski, Carl Hagelin, Jack Campbell and Trevor Lewis.

This is the second of four meetings between the Flames and Kings this season. Calgary beat Los Angeles 1-0 back on Nov. 10 at Staples Center.

Your Kings Twitter follows for tonight:

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