Calgary Flames Shutout By L.A. Kings

Photo Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

It was a night of firsts as Joni Ortio and Markus Granlund made their NHL debuts on the ice at the Saddledome against the L.A. Kings.

The first few mins of the opening period started off with a little rust as the Flames were dominated by the Kings, but it didn’t take long for the Flames to get their skating legs back and get in the game.

After a pass from Chris Butler, Kris Russell lost control of the puck and Dustin Brown picked it up to capitalize on the mistake. It was 1-0 Kings.

The Flames looked better in the second frame as Mark Giordano opened the period with a big hit on the Kings to show that the team was ready to play.

And then things got physical. There were more pushing and shoving as the Flames began to play the same hard-hitting style of hockey as the Kings.

Mikael Backlund and Brad Richards found themselves with a pair of roughing penalties but no goals were scored in spite of the numerous shots on net that the Flames had.

Backlund is proving with each passing game that he is earning the “A” on his jersey if Mike Cammalleri gets traded.

Butler left the game halfway through the second period with a lower body injury and did not return. I’m still waiting to hear exactly what had happened.

Notable shots on Jonathan Quick during the second period included Jiri Hudler, Sean Monahan, and Matt Stajan. But not one of those shots went in as Quick was on his game.

Joe Colborne‘s confidence is definitely getting better with each game. But in this game, it got the better of him when he took an extra shot at Quick after the Flames went in the PP. Colborne landed himself in the penalty box, negating the Flames PP and forcing a 4 on 4.

The third period, the Kings came back to score one more time and win the game with a final score of 2-0 over the Calgary Flames.

Ortio had 2 goals against in his first NHL game and Granlund had 7:14 time on ice.

I think Joni Ortio summed it up perfectly in the Flames recap, when he said, “it wasn’t the one we were looking for, but I think we played a good hockey game and just couldn’t capitalize on our chances. That was pretty much the bottom line.”

The Flames next game is against the Oilers on Saturday in the Battle Of Alberta on Hockey Night In Canada.

Go Flames!