Getting well acquainted with Calgary

Two days without a game in a road city can be a mixed blessing. In this case, it gave the Kings two consecutive days of practice on the road, which is rare, and that practice time is valued by coaches. On the other hand, teams run the risk of getting a bit stale by sitting around that long. A team dinner last night no doubt helped build some camaraderie, and tonight the players will be able to focus on their normal night-before-game routine. A handful of folks, myself included, will be checking out the WHL game between Calgary and Vancouver. Unfortunately, there are no Kings prospects on either team, but it should still be fun. As for the Kings, Terry Murray talked today about the two days of practice, and what the focus has been.

MURRAY: “The practice yesterday was pretty intense. It was a good work practice. The guys really came out and put everything into all of the drills. The most important thing for me, coming out of the last two games and getting ready, with two days off, is to stay focused and bring the third period that we played in Edmonton and building on that with a solid effort. With the checking effort and with adding the third goal, I was real pleased with that kind of an effort. So it’s important to bring that intensity, that focus, to our game tomorrow against Calgary. And, also, remember that the first period against Edmonton was not quite what we needed. We came out of that in pretty good shape as a result of good goaltending and excellent penalty-killing. So we have to come out with high intensity against a team that is playing well.”

Of course, the Kings are also looking to break their 10-game losing streak in Calgary. Nick Nickson ran the numbers yesterday and determined that in their history, the Kings have never lost more than 10 consecutive games in one city. They have twice had 10-game losing streaks in Boston and one each in Montreal and Calgary. Today, Murray again talked about trying to break the streak against the Flames in Calgary.

MURRAY: “They’re just a good hockey club. They play hard. They play a very fundamental, basic game. They keep it pretty basic, in their execution and consistency, and they’ve got good goaltending. It seems to be just a part of the game that we’re not able to crack against them, where we’re able to find the timely goal or the timely play that’s going to make the difference. Quite honestly, I like the way we’ve played in this building over the time that I’ve been here in those situations. Again, the bottom line is winning the game, and we’re not getting that result. You’ve got to just stay with it. Every shift is important, and you’ve got to stay with the hard game and make sure that you compete against a team that’s a very competitive club here.”

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