After a mixed homestand, the Calgary Flames are back on the road and looking for a cleaner start to a three-game California trip. Their first stop comes Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Kings, with puck drop set for 9 p.m. Alberta Time on Sportsnet West and QR Calgary.
Calgary enters at 8-10-1 for 17 points, while Los Angeles sits at 5-10-2 with 12 points. It’s the opening game of a stretch that will see the Flames play three times in four nights, though all three games come in the same state with manageable travel.
The Flames are projected to roll out these lines, according to Daily Faceoff:
Joel Farabee - Mikael Backlund - Matt Coronato
Matvei Gridin - Martin Pospisil - Ryan Strome
Yegor Sharangovich - Morgan Frost - Adam Klapka
William Stromgren - Jonathan Castagna - Aydar Suniev
Joel Hanley - Simon Nemec
Jake Middleton - Zach Whitecloud
Yan Kuznetsov - Zayne Parekh
Dustin Wolf is projected to start in goal, with Devin Cooley backing him up. The projected extras in Los Angeles are Brayden Pachal, Maxim Tsyplakov and Brennan Othmann. Based on Friday’s practice reports, William Stromgren appears set to re-enter the lineup, with Othmann coming out.
Calgary has gone 2-2-1 in November. There have been stretches where the team has looked sharp, but inconsistency has also shown up, especially in some second-period dips.
That’s been the issue for a roster that doesn’t have the kind of scoring depth to rescue incomplete nights. The formula is simple: the Flames need a full 60 minutes if they want results.
Los Angeles, meanwhile, has been stuck in a rough run of its own. The Kings are 1-3-0 in November and have dropped three straight.
This is also the last game of a seven-game homestand, and they’ve won just two of the first six. The season has gone sideways for a team that keeps finding ways to lose close games - and sometimes games that aren’t close at all - while sitting near the bottom of the NHL standings.
Their projected lineup, via Daily Faceoff, looks like this:
Artemi Panarin - Alex Laferriere - Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala - Quinton Byfield - Mats Zuccarello
Trevor Moore - Erik Haula - Joel Armia
Andre Lee - Scott Laughton - Corey Perry
Mikey Anderson - Drew Doughty
Brian Dumoulin - Brandt Clarke
Joel Edmundson - Cody Ceci
Anton Forsberg is projected to start in net, with Darcy Kuemper backing him up. The Kings’ healthy extras are expected to be Alex Turcotte and Samuel Helenius.
The Flames will be without Jonathan Huberdeau and Kevin Bahl. The Kings are missing Erik Gustafsson.
Through 13 games, Calgary has eight wins to Los Angeles’ five. The Flames also hold the edge in points percentage, sitting at .447 compared with the Kings’ .353.
Calgary’s 52.5 expected goals percentage ranks 10th, while Los Angeles sits at 50.0, good for 16th. On special teams, the Flames have been much stronger: their power play is at 29.5 percent, fourth in the league, and their penalty kill is operating at 81.4 percent, ninth.
The Kings’ power play is at 22.8 percent, 13th, and their penalty kill has been a major problem at 65.5 percent, 29th.
This is the first of four meetings between the teams this season. They’ll meet again on Jan. 16 in Calgary, Feb. 15 in Los Angeles and Mar. 25 in Calgary.
In Other News...
Sharangovich Is Becoming A Real Flames Roster Problem
The Flames have found enough early-season production from Joel Farabee, Matt Coronato, Matvei Gridin, Adam Klapka, Kevin Bahl, Zayne Parekh and Devin Cooley to stay afloat through a better-than-expected 8-10-1 start, but the roster picture is getting messier in a hurry. A few regulars have lagged behind the pace, and among them, Yegor Sharangovich stands out as the most troubling case for a team trying to sort out its forward group on the fly.
Sharangovich arrived with real expectations after signing a five-year contract following a strong initial season in Calgary, but this year has been a sharp step back. With Jonathan Huberdeau and Sam Honzek working their way toward returns from injury, the Flames may soon have more bodies than spots, and Sharangovich's place in the lineup is suddenly anything but secure. For a club that has gotten more than expected from some young pieces, the challenge now is deciding how long it can keep waiting on a veteran who has not delivered. [Read more 🡒]
Ducks Coaching Situation Suddenly Feels Like A Bigger Story
The coaching picture in Anaheim has taken on a little more relevance for teams around the Pacific Division, including the Flames. Pierre LeBrun reported that the Ducks and Joel Quenneville have already moved into contract talks, with an extension expected sometime in the next month or two, a sign that Anaheim may be closer to settling its long-term direction than it looked not long ago.
For Calgary, the timing matters because the club is still sorting through its own blue-line response to Kevin Bahls season-ending injury. Management appears more inclined to open the door for younger defenders than to chase a major veteran fix, and that approach could shape how aggressively the Flames browse the market as the trade deadline gets closer. As the deadline chatter builds, so will the list of possible trade targets and roster tweaks. [Read more 🡒]
Flames Avoided A Travel Scare As Road Trip Gets Underway
A sweeping FAA ground stop across all U.S. airports had the potential to create a mess for a traveling NHL team, but the Flames were already in the air when the order came down. Calgary landed in Los Angeles as scheduled, avoiding the kind of delay that can throw a road trip into disarray before it even starts.
The club is in California for a three-game swing and will handle the rest of the trip by charter bus as it moves between cities. For a team trying to settle into the opening leg of a demanding road stretch, simply getting on the ground on time was a small but important win. [Read more 🡒]