Road Woes Continue as Los Angeles Kings Fall to the Calgary Flames 2-1

The road woes continue as the Los Angeles Kings fell to the Calgary Flames 2-1 Monday night.  It’s the second time the teams have met this season, and the second time the Flames have downed the defending champions.

As a side note, the loss continues a long running record: the Kings have losses against the Flames than any other franchise.

Calgary’s speedy forecheck jumped on the Kings early and never looked back.

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Working the puck up along the boards through the neutral zone, Curtis Glencross drew the Kings forecheck in, then threw a back-hand pass off the boards.  Calgary moved the puck up to Sean Monahan at the Kings blue line.  Kings defensemen Drew Doughty stepped up and checked Monahan into the boards, but not before Monahan made a back-hand flip-pass to Jiri Hudler in the Kings zone.  Hudler skated past Jake Muzzin to the puck, and with Muzzin in pursuit, threw a no-look behind the back-shoulder pass to Glencross.  Glencross was cutting into the Kings slot all alone, took Hudlers pass and snapped a shot over Jonathan Quick’s blocker.

On the next shift the Kings worked the puck deep into the Calgary zone.  L.A. was running a three-man forecheck.  Flames defensemen Mark Giordano got to the puck first and ringed a shot around the boards.  Giordano’s shot hopped over the stick of the forechecking Jeff Carter and made its way to Johnny Gaudreau.  Gaudreau brought the puck out to center and into the Kings zone.  Gaudreau made a nice move, putting the puck though the stick of Matt Greene, broke in and flipped a saucer pass over the stick of Alec Martinez to Hudler.  Hudler tapped a pass back to a streaking Markus Granlund who one-timed the puck past a sprawling Quick and into the wide open net.

Calgary’s goals came within 1:02 time frame.

Two tiny breakdowns by the Kings cost them two big goals.

After the first period the Flames tightened up their game, focusing on defensive hockey.

L.A. was able to break through in the last minute of the second period.

Trevor Lewis picked up a loose puck then cut-back along the half-boards in the Kings zone.  Lewis wired a pass to Dustin Brown, who was standing all alone at the center-ice line.  Brown zipped a pass under Flames defensemen T.J. Brodie’s stick right to Tyler Toffoli’s tape.  Brown’s pass put Toffoli on a breakaway.  Toffoli came in with speed, gave Flames goaltender Jonas Hiller the ole’ 1-2-3, triple-deke then roofed a back-hand.

Absolute beauty.

Toffoli’s goal was his 12th of the season, putting him back at first in goals for the Kings.

No goals were scored in the third period.

Both the Kings and Flames were 0-for-2 on the power-play.

Marian Gaborik’s six-game point streak remains in tact, though Gaborik didn’t register a point.  That’s because Gaborik wasn’t in uniform for the Kings.

A last-minute scratch, Gaborik was unable to play due to a cold, according to the Kings hockey operations.  Gaborik’s status is questionable.  The Kings have not declared that he is day-to-day, but due to the nature of the flu there is no time-table for Gaborik’s return.

Dec 29, 2014; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Los Angeles Kings center Trevor Lewis (22) skates with the puck as Calgary Flames left wing Johnny Gaudreau (13) chases during the second period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

Trevor Lewis is quietly on a four-game point streak.  Lewis has 2 goals and 2 assists in his last 4 appearances.  Lewis has 6 goals and a +5 plus/minus rating in 28 games this season, both are ties for career highs.  One of the goals came while the Kings were short-handed, another career-high tie for Lewis.

Lewis spent some time on the Kings first line earlier this season as a reward by head coach Darryl Sutter.  Lewis is Sutter’s kind of player, and was given the bump because of his hustle, heart in the corners, and hard work at both ends of the ice.

The Kings loss and Flames win means the Kings remained stagnant with 43 points, and the Flames added to for a total of 43 points.  The Flames and Kings are now in a four-way tie with the Vancouver Canucks and San Jose Sharks for 2-5 place positioning in the Pacific Division.

L.A.’s next game is tonight at Rexall Place in Edmonton, where the Kings will take on the Oilers.  Puck-drop is set for 6:30 p.m. PST.

Dec 29, 2014; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames left wing Curtis Glencross (20) scores a goal against the Los Angeles Kings during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports