Calgary Flames win first game of 2018 in comeback win vs. LA Kings

The Calgary Flames will hope to shorten the gap between them and other Pacific Division teams. They’ll start with a game against the LA Kings tonight.

The Calgary Flames and Los Angeles Kings will meet for the second time this season. The Flames won the first meeting between the two was the Flames fourth game of the season and their third win of the season. They’ll look to do that again tonight.

They’ll play the Kings tonight then play the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night. Two important Pacific Division games for the Flames to try and shorten the gap between them and the Ducks. But there will be some alterations to the lineup.

Yesterday, the Flames placed Freddie Hamilton on waivers and this morning, he was claimed by the Arizona Coyotes. So looks like Dougie Hamilton will have to learn how to cook on his own. Since Freddie was claimed, the Flames recalled Marek Hrivik from Stockton however, he wouldn’t be in the lineup tonight.

Related Story: Flames Daily - Freddie Hamilton to Arizona

Jaromir Jagr is also missing the game tonight, so Curtis Lazar would draw in the lineup as well. Let’s get on to the game and see what happened.

First period

The first period started out how you’d expect a Calgary Flames first period to start. The LA Kings were all over the Flames to start the game off. And with a shot that seemed quite innocent, the puck snuck by Mike Smith and the game was 1-0 before the five-minute mark. A goal that Smith would definitely want back. Derek Forbort broke a 93-game goalless drought because of course, he did.

Calgary Flames

Seven minutes into the game and the Kings already had 13 shots compared to the Flames’ three. Smith had to make a couple of sharp saves after the goal he let in before the Flames finally started generating more shots and getting chances around the nine minutes mark. Especially from the first line.

Then the Flames had back-to-back powerplays and it doesn’t take a genius to guess what most likely happened (no goals). Although, the Flames did have a few good chances. And Mikael Backlund hit the post at one point.

The Flames had the majority of the push for the rest of the period, but of course, in perfect Flames fashion, the Kings get one rush the other way and score with a tip-in from Tanner Pearson with just 45 seconds left in the period. Who doesn’t love late period goals!?

The Flames finished this period being outscored 2-0, but evening up the shooting field with 15 shots each team. They’ll have some work to do in the second period.

Second period

The second period started out much, MUCH better for the Calgary Flames. They came out with a fire lit under them and they stayed like that for pretty much the entire period. They got a chance early on, but again, Backlund hit the post early in the period. That’s two posts now for #11 in the game.

Then, with some great efforts from the first line, especially from Johnny Gaudreau, he gets it to Micheal Ferland who puts it in the net! It seemed like Sean Monahan may have tipped it in, but they gave it to Ferland. The Flames went on the powerplay (great), and while they didn’t get a goal, there were some good chances. As the powerplay ended, the Flames kept pushing. At one point, Dougie Hamilton made a quick move to Mark Jankowski right as the Flames powerplay ended who quickly put in on the net, but no goal.

A few minutes later, none other than the LEGENDARY Troy Brouwer makes it a tie game!

Then again, the Flames hit yet ANOTHER post, this time by Michael Stone. That’s now three posts in the game for the Flames. Flames would end up going on the penalty-kill and a two-on-one breakaway for Jankowski and Garnet Hathaway, but that wouldn’t result in anything on the scoresheet. At least the Flames were aggressive on the penalty-kill.

But soon after, Kings defenceman Kurtis MacDermid had a bad giveaway, and Jankowski put the Flames on top for the first time in the game!  The Flames didn’t stop there though. Every Flames line was putting in work tonight. At one point. Sam Bennett and Jankowski had a great chance, with no goal, but a powerplay ensued. The Flames had a great amount of pressure, but since it’s the powerplay, obviously there was no goal. Monahan had a breakaway with a pass from Gaudreau, but that one didn’t find the back of the net.

But don’t worry! Because after some work, this line would find the back of the net again! Monahan gets his first goal of the night and second point of the game (Gaudreau and Ferland each have two points so far tonight as well). That’s now four goals for the Flames in the second period to give them a 4-2 lead after trailing 2-0 after the first period. They outshot the Kings 17-5 that period and outshot them 32-20 in the game.

Third period

I was so hype after that second period I almost forgot what happened in the first. Even though the Calgary Flames were now up 4-2, they didn’t slow down a whole lot. For the start of the period, they again had some push, especially Brett Kulak who had four shots so far in the game. Jankowski, Monahan, and Gaudreau all continued to remain hot this period as well and were all generating chances.

Related Story: Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan: Dynamic duo

Curtis Lazar had a breakaway at one point, but he didn’t score. Which is good news for all of us. If Brouwer and Lazar both score in the same game, the entire universe would combust.

Around the midway mark, the Flames played a bit more defence and laid back a little bit. But picked it up again when there were about 4-5 minutes left in the game. You would think they were the ones who were down a goal. The third line was generating chances, and then the first line comes on the ice and was generating chances. At one point, Jonathan Quick was down after trying to make a save and Monahan basically had an open net, but he hit the crossbar. That’s now four posts/crossbar in one game. I hate the post.

The Kings took out the goalie and they came back with some chances. One too many and made it a one-goal game with 1:31 left to go in the game. Now it’s basically anybody’s game. But the Flames were aggressive and didn’t let them set up, so this one would finish 4-3.

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After a slow start followed by one of their best periods this season, this was a fun win to witness. The Calgary Flames go back in action on Saturday night where they’ll hopefully continue the momentum and continue working towards closing that gap separating them from the playoffs.