12/2 Preview – Optional Skate, Vitals for both teams + Calgary’s play, Kempe’s growth, Sutter returns

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (9-8-4) vs. Calgary Flames (13-4-5)
WHAT: NHL REGULAR-SEASON GAME
WHEN: Thursday, December 2 @ 7:30 PM Pacific
WHERE: STAPLES Center – Los Angeles, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: Bally Sports West – AUDIO – iHeart Radio – TWITTER: @DooleyLAK & @LAKings

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: A seven-game homestand comes to a close this evening for the Kings, as they host the Calgary Flames in the second of four straight divisional games.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: While the teams did not square off last season due to the temporary divisional realignment, the Kings won three of the four games played against the Flames during the 2019-20 season, including both games contested at STAPLES Center. Anze Kopitar led the Kings with six points (2-4-6) from those four games, while Drew Doughty tallied five points (2-3-5) including an overtime GWG. From his time in Vancouver, Alex Edler’s 38 career points (4-34-38) against Calgary are his most against any other NHL opponent.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings are looking to avoid winning just once on a seven-game homestand for the second time in franchise history (2014-15). A point of any kind tonight would see the team avoid its lowest point total from a seven-game homestand, currently at four points (2-5-0, 2020-21).

Today’s morning skate was optional but per Todd McLellan, we’re not expected to see any additional lineup changes from the game against Anaheim. That alignment points to the defensive duo of Olli Maatta and Kale Clague on the outside looking in, with Sean Durzi retaining his spot for tonight’s game.

As you already know, Brendan Lemieux (suspension) and Andreas Athanasiou (COVID Protocol) will not play tonight, and Quinton Byfield remains on IR, though progressing, leaving the Kings with just 12 active forwards at this time.

Cal Petersen was the first goaltender off this morning and is expected to get the start this evening against the Flames. Petersen has faced Calgary twice thus far in his NHL career, posting a 1-1-0 record, a .932 save percentage and a 2.52 goals-against average. Petersen is coming off a victory over Ottawa and is 3-0-1 when facing Canadian opponents so far this season.

Tonight’s expected Kings lineup, from Tuesday versus Anaheim –

Kempe – Kopitar – Brown
Iafallo – Danault – Arvidsson
Andersson – Kupari – Moore
Grundstrom – Lizotte – Kaliyev
Lemieux, Byfield

Anderson – Doughty
Edler – Roy
Bjornfot – Durzi
Maatta – Clague

Petersen / Quick

FLAMES VITALS: Like the Kings, Calgary is also slated to play four consecutive games against Pacific Division foes, beginning tonight in Los Angeles. The Flames will then play Anaheim, Vegas and San Jose over the next five days.

No sign of a Flames starting goaltender, so we’ll highlight Jacob Markstrom, the team’s regular starter, as he looks to continue a historic run for the Calgary goaltending department. All-time versus the Kings, Markstrom is 6-3-3, with a .919 save percentage and a 2.71 goals-against average. Markstrom leads the NHL with five shutouts entering tonight’s action and ranks second in both save percentage (.938) and goals-against average (1.75).

It’s been three games since the Calgary Flames posted a shutout….and that feels like a long time, doesn’t it? Calgary has seven victories this season by shutout, which set a modern-day NHL record as the first team to do so in their first 19 games of the season. Since the NHL allowed forward passes in 1929, that is.

Per Pat Steinberg of Sportsnet 960, here’s how the Flames lined up in their most recent game versus Pittsburgh –

#Flames tonight vs. Pittsburgh:

Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk
Coleman-Backlund-Mangiapane
Dube-Monahan-Pitlick
Lucic-Richardson-Lewis

Hanifin-Andersson
Kylington-Tanev
Zadorov-Gudbranson

Markstrom

— Pat Steinberg (@Fan960Steinberg) November 30, 2021

Calgary appears set to use a reunion line this evening, with Trevor Lewis, Milan Lucic and Brad Richardson slated to skate together on the team’s fourth line. The trio has been effective thus far, with Lucic netting six goals and Lewis and Richardson both at +3 ratings for the season.

Brad Richardson just said the Lucic-Richardson-Lewis line has been nicknamed…

“The full pension line”

— Hailey Salvian (@hailey_salvian) December 2, 2021

Notes –

Facing Stingy Opposition
It’s no secret, if the above statistics didn’t do it justice, that tonight’s opponent plays a stingy, difficult to score against brand of hockey. As to be expected, considering their Head Coach.

Darryl Sutter’s men have allowed fewer goals so far this season than any other team across the NHL. At 43 goals conceded from just 22 games played, that’s below two goals per game. It’s not as if they can’t score, either. Calgary leads the league with a +29 goal differential and their 72 goals scored still place inside the NHL’s Top 10.

Long story short, a difficult matchup this evening.

“They’re four lines deep and six [defensemen] deep, so they’re not hiding players, Darryl plays everyone and we have to match that,” Todd McLellan said of Calgary. “If we have a couple of individuals who just aren’t with us, it makes the task that much harder. We’ll need to keep an eye out and make sure that everyone is engaged early.”

McLellan pointed to board battles as a key to tonight’s game.

He spoke on how well the Flames play along the wall, how many battles they win in all areas of the ice, and how they use those battles to create offensive opportunities. When you create offensive opportunities, naturally, you do not allow defensive ones as often, which is supported by Calgary’s ranking (first in Western Conference, third in NHL) in percentage of shot attempts controlled.

“Against the Flames, we’re going to have to play well anywhere along the boards, and we’re going to have to be quick off the [boards],” he said. “They win battles there and they pop a lot of pucks into open ice, so we’ll be looking for that throughout the game.”

Calgary leads the league in percentage of scoring chances controlled and is third in percentage of high-danger chances controlled. They also turn their scoring chances and high-danger chances into goals as well as anyone else. And, on top of that, the Flames are as stingy as they come defensively.

Forward Adrian Kempe spoke a bit more about their defensive play, noting the number of shutouts Calgary has posted, and defensive play they’ve learned about as a group.

“You can tell through their defensive play that they’ve been really good, the number of shutouts they’ve had, they have to play good defense in games,” Kempe said. “They’re a strong team, they have a lot of guys scoring, goaltending is outstanding. It’s going to be a big game for us, an important game for the team to bounce back after the last one against Anaheim.”

Juice Up
Speaking of Adrian Kempe, Todd McLellan had several good things to say about his current first-line left winger.

“I’m sure there’s a large group of Kempe fans, and probably some others on the other side of the coin – I’m a Kempe fan,” he said.

McLellan commented on the way that Kempe uses his skating ability to impact a game, both with and without the puck. Kempe is one of the team’s most impressive players at getting the puck back and that applies in all areas of the ice.

“I think that the way he uses his legs has an impact on the game every night, hence his backcheck on the 2-on-1 in overtime,” McLellan added. “There were a few other backchecks during the game, and if you’re not looking for it, you don’t notice it. He has an impact as much without the puck as he does with the puck.”

Speaking with Kempe this morning, he believes that he can impact a game, whether he has the puck or doesn’t. On a good night, or even on a bad night, Kempe focused on his ability to get the puck back in all situations as something he can do and do well.

“Coming back to our own zone, I can use my speed as much as possible, and the forecheck, that’s still something where I think I can bring a lot to the team,” he noted. “Getting pucks back, that’s something I want to be good at every single night. Even if I don’t have my best night, I can bring that every single night. Just keep that going, last couple of games, I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job of getting pucks back and that’s what I want to try to do for my linemates too. Just skate as much as I can and do my job.”

Kempe brings an element of “explosiveness” to quote McLellan to the top line right now. His injection of pace alongside Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown isn’t necessarily a new thing, we saw that combination used earlier this season and at times last season, but right now it seems to be working pretty well for number nine.

Double Dog Darryl
Lastly, tonight’s game marked the return of Darryl Sutter to STAPLES Center, a place where he had a lot of success and several fond memories. Hear from Sutter from yesterday’s news conference here.

Speaking with McLellan this morning, while he isn’t inside Sutter’s head, he’s returned to places where he’s coached before, and where he’s won before. He said that game preparation in those situations remains the same, though there is still a special element in those situations.

“I think you keep [preparation] the same,” he said. “The minute you get outside what you normally do, players will sense that, and the last thing it’s about is the coach coming back, at least for me when I’ve gone back to my old stomping grounds. Let’s face it, Darryl was incredible here, he did great things. I know that the fans will acknowledge him, I know the players here appreciate what he did. He’s a hell of a coach, he’s done a real good job in Calgary and it’s always meaningful to come back. The only spot I got to go Stanley Cup wise was Detroit as an assistant and it meant a lot. He has two on his fingers from being the head coach here, so it’s got to mean something to him, but Darryl will have his team ready. They’ll play the same way they always play, he’ll simplify it and expect a lot from his group as we will ours.”

How it all shakes out, before the Kings depart for Western Canada this weekend, remains to be seen. One more at home, Insiders, an important two points on the line.