Kings at Flames
After having their franchise-record home winning streak snapped at 11 games, the Calgary Flames will try to avoid back-to-back losses at Scotiabank Saddledome for the first time in more than two months when they host the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night. Calgary dropped a 1-0 decision to Pacific Division rival Anaheim on Tuesday to fall to 9-3-0 in December.
While the Kings hold a healthy lead atop the Pacific, the Flames have won seven of 10 meetings over the past two seasons - with six of the victories coming by one goal. Calgary is wrapping up a four-game homestand, but it returns to Scotiabank Saddledome for four more games following a visit to Colorado on Saturday. The Kings ended another lengthy home streak, snapping Edmonton's seven-game string with a 5-2 victory Tuesday. Los Angeles can make it a perfect four-game road trip by beating Calgary, which will wrap up a grueling stretch of 10 away games in its last 11.
TV: 9 p.m. ET, NHL Network, FSN West (Los Angeles), SportsNet 360 (Calgary)
ABOUT THE KINGS (23-11-2): Dwight King, who broke his foot in training camp, made his season debut against Edmonton and scored one goal while setting up another. "It's been a long process to get back and the boys have been doing really well without me, so it's good to see and to come back to a win, it's a good feeling," King said. "This is really my first injury, the training staff had me keeping in really good shape and I had about two solid weeks of ice (time) before this, so it's a process." Second-leading scorer Jeff Carter could miss his third consecutive game due to an upper-body injury.
ABOUT THE FLAMES (17-17-2): Calgary leading scorer Johnny Gaudreau, the NHL's First Star of the Week, had a team-high four shots in Tuesday's loss and also absorbed his share of shots as opponents continue to try to be physical with him. “I definitely notice it a lot more than last year,” Gaudreau said. “I obviously knew it was going to happen more this year coming in after last season. With the start I had and our team has been playing well right now, so obviously we’re going to get it a lot more now so I’ve got to be smart." Gaudreau has eight goals and five assists in his last nine games.
OVERTIME
1. Flames G Karri Ramo, who will make his eighth straight start,is 3-0-0 with a 1.86 goals-against average versus Los Angeles.
2. Kings G Jonathan Quick is 10-7-4 with a 1.82 GAA versus the Flames.
3. Calgary has the league's worst penalty kill but has snuffed out its last 12 short-handed situations.