LA Kings at Calgary Flames: Summary

Just what the Flames needed.  After a 5 – 2 home ice loss to the defending Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings on the weekend, the Flames bounced back with a  convincing 6 – 2 win versus the LA Kings Tuesday at the Saddledome in Calgary.

After some line juggling that saw Captain Jarome Iginla on the top line with Mike Cammalleri and Matthew Lombardi, the Flames opened the scoring at 9:11.  For Cammalleri, who was playing against his former team, the tally marked his 6^th goal and 17^th point on the year.  It was Matthew Lombardi’s second game back after missing 13 straight with a shoulder injury.  Late in the 1^st, Rene Bourque added to the score sheet at 18:29 to make it 2 – 0 Flames.  At period’s end, Flames Miikka Kiprusoff saved all 9 shots he faced, while on the Kings end, Erik Ersberg let in 2 shots on 11. 

In the second period, the Flames managed to net a couple of goals, Iginla with his team leading 12^thof the season, and Curtis Glencross with his 4^th.  After letting in 4 goals on 18 shots, Ersberg was pulled in favour of Jason Labarbara, who got out of the period with 3 saves on 3 shots.  It was 4 – 0 Flames after 2. 

Early in the 3^rdperiod , at the 3:38 mark, with Kings Raitis Ivanans in the box on an interference call,  teammate Alexander Frolov netted his 7^th of the year .  The short  handed tally made the score 4 – 1 Flames and ruined Kiprusoff’s shot at his 3^rd shutout of the year.  But less than a minute later, still on the powerplay, Flames David Moss answered with his 4^th of the year, restoring the Flames 4 goal lead.  With the score 5 – 1, at the midway mark of the third, Rene Bourque added another goal, his second on the night, bringing the score to 6 – 1 Flames.  Kings Anze Kopitar scored his 4^th goal of the season late in the 3^rd, and the game ended up 6 – 2. 

After the game, Kings coach Terry Murray had this to say, “Calgary is a better team than we are. That’s all there was to it tonight. They beat us to every area in the ice, shots, goals, they controlled the boards, they made all kinds of plays whenever they wanted to make plays and they are a much better team than we are.”

RECORDS:  With the win, the Flames have an 8 – 3 - 1 home record and improve their season record to 12 – 9 – 1.  The Kings sit below .500 at 8 – 9 – 3 with only a 2 – 4 – 0 road record. 

SPEACIAL TEAMS:  The Kings went 0/2 on the power play, netting one short handed marker, but the Flames were 1/8 on the man advantage.  The Flames had one 5 on 3 advantage for just over a minute in the 3^rd period, but the Kings were able to come out unscathed.

OUT:  For the Flames, Andre Roy and Brandon Prust were healthy scratches, while Jim Vandermeer remains sidelined with a broken leg.  Rhett Warriner is still on injured reserve.  Kings John Zeiler served his first of a three game suspension.

POINTS:  It was an 8 point night for the line of Rene Bouque, Craig Conroy and Curtis Glencross.  Bourque had 2 goals, Glencross had 2 goals and an assist, and Conroy had 3 assists. Flames Cory Sarich recorded his 100^th career point after drawing an assist on Glencross’ 2^nd goal of the night.  Kings Anze Kopitar’s goal in the third period brought his team leading point total to 4 goals, and 12 assists for 16 points in 20 games played.

NEXT:  Up next for the Flames is a home at home series with the Roberto Luongo-less Vancouver Canucks, in Vancouver on Thursday and in Calgary on Saturday.  The Kings continue their road trip in Alberta, traveling up highway 2 to play in Edmonton on Wednesday night.