The Los Angeles Kings are about to close out a five game home stand on Wednesday night against the Calgary Flames. They will be looking to go perfect over this time frame after winning the four games prior.
The Kings will be playing a Calgary Flames team that is struggling a bit as they currently are in the middle of the Pacific Division and have lost three of their last four prior to the game against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night. However, the Kings can't take this team lightly as they lost their first meeting of the season back on November 11th by a final score of 3-1.
In that meeting, the Flames would get out to a two goal lead heading into the third period after goals by Mikael Backlund and Jonathan Huberdeau. The Kings would cut the lead in half with a goal by Trevor Moore late in the third period but the Flames would seal the victory with an empty net goal.
The reason this game is notable is that the Kings would go on and lose the next night to the Colorado Avalanche and that is the last time this season that Los Angeles has had back-to-back losses in regulation.
For the Los Angeles Kings, the biggest challenge will be not to look ahead with a road game against the Winnipeg Jets on Friday. They currently lead the NHL in points with 58 and will be a big test for this team.
Final Score Prediction: Los Angeles Kings 4, Calgary Flames 1
In the end, the Los Angeles Kings continue to excel at home while the Flames continue to struggle on the road with a 5-8-4 record. This is a game where the Kings have a great chance to put pressure on Calgary and keep the puck on their end of the ice. The Flames have struggled in these situations and are 0-6-3 on the road when the opponent out-shoots them.