Los Angeles Kings (23-10-5) at Calgary Flames (19-14-7)
When: Saturday, 8 p.m. MT, Scotiabank Saddledome
TV: CBC Radio: Sportsnet 960 The Fan
Odds: Flames +135, Kings -110
The buzz
It was supposed to be a rematch.
But with the wildfires in Los Angeles causing Wednesday night’s matchup between the Flames and Kings to be postponed, Saturday night’s affair at the Saddledome will carry a different significance.
Maybe there won’t be any bad blood carried over the way you often get in back-to-backs, but a Pacific Division matchup carries an importance of its own for both teams.
For the Flames, it’s an opportunity to build off the momentum they gained in Tuesday’s overtime win over the Anaheim Ducks.
They’re on the outside-looking-in at the Western Conference playoff picture, one point back of the team sitting in the second Wild Card spot, the Vancouver Canucks — prior to Friday night’s games.
The Kings are a bit further ahead, six points up on the Flames and sitting in third in the Pacific Division, but a win on Friday would ramp up the pressure on the Los Angeles crew.
The quote
“A great team, they don’t give up much either. I think it’s going to be a hard-fought battle, a playoff-style battle and obviously a divisional opponent so we’re going to be looking to definitely get those two points. It’s a bit bizarre, how you go into L.A., prepare for them and do your pre-scout and then end up not playing and have to play them again the next day at home. It’s fortunate for us, maybe we don’t have to spend too much time on the pre-scout.”
— Flames centre Nazem Kadri
The news
- The Flames called up Rory Kerins from the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers on Friday to help cover for Connor Zary, who suffered a knee injury against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night. It’s not entirely certain whether Kerins will get into the lineup on Saturday night, but Kerins has putting up huge numbers in the AHL this year — 21 goals and 13 assists in 34 games
- The Flames did provide an update on Zary on Friday afternoon. The good news is his knee won’t require surgery, but he is out indefinitely.
- Saturday night will be the Flames’ Indigenous Celebration Game. As its name implies, the evening will be a celebration of Indigenous culture and tradition and a recognition of the peoples of the Treaty 7 Region of Southern Alberta. Representatives from the Blackfoot First Nation tribes of Siksika, the Piikani, the Kainai; the Stoney Nakoda First Nation tribes of Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Goodstoney; the Tsuut’ina First Nation as well as members from Otipemisiwak Métis Government, Districts 5 & 6.
- Check in after Saturday’s morning skate for more updates
The projected lineup
Forwards
- Huberdeau-Kadri-Pospisil
- Coleman-Backlund-Coronato
- Pelletier-?-Sharangovich
- Lomberg-Rooney-Kuzmenko
Defence
- Bahl-Andersson
- Hanley-Weegar
- Bean-Pachal
Goalies
- Wolf
- Vladar
The injuries
Justin Kirkland and Anthony Mantha are both recovering from season-ending knee surgeries. Zary is out indefinitely with a knee injury of his own.
In case you missed it
The Flames Quarter-Century Team will be announced this coming weekend. We want to hear who you’d have on your all-star squad for the past 25 years.