Matt Murray has been a Kings fan since the late '80s, when Wayne Gretzky grabbed headlines by defecting to the West Coast. Since then, he has been a card-carrying bandwagon member as the club soared in popularity with their sole Stanley Cup appearance to their position near the bottom of the Pacific. But things are looking brighter, as he is anxious to witness the rise of the new Kings.
Langkow scorches L.A., as Calgary wins
The Flames haven't won a home game yet this season. The DAM line of Dustiin Brown, Anze Kopitar and Michael Cammalleri starts for Los Angeles, as Crawford looks to come out of the gates swinging. In goal for the second straight game is J.S. Aubin, who played well last game.
The Kings get a power play early, when David Hale gets whistled for hooking. L.A. is ninth in the league on the power play, but 0/9 away from home. Good thing is, Calgary is 29th in killing penalties. Looks like a match made in heaven to Kings fans.
Calgary gets a delay of game penalty, putting the Kings up two men, which bodes even better for L.A. They are 2 of 6 with the 2-man advantage. And Michael Cammalleri makes it 3 out of 7, when he beats Kiprusoff on the stick side to make it 1-0. Anze Kopitar and Lubomir Visnovsky get the assists. And... L.A. still has a one-man advantage.
Kiprusoff has help to make a huge save against O'Sully, when his defenseman covers for him by tipping away a good shot. It seems Kiprusoff isn't very focused. Either that or the Kings are dialed in.
My guess is the latter, because Dustin Brown scores his third from the left side around Robyn Regehr, surprising Kiprusoff with his speed. Kopitar leads Brown with a nice pass, and Brown takes it all the way in, to make it 2-0. Kopitar gets his second assist of the game, and it's only halfway through the first.
L.A. gets another power play, when David Moss is called for holding. Then former Kings Craig Conroy get nailed with a hol;ding call on Kyle Calder, giving the Kings another 2-man advantage. This time, the Flames kill both penalties, but not after some good shifts by L.A. The Kings get called for too many men, which is just a sloppy penalty for the Kings, then jack Johnson get a holding call, giving calgary a two-man advantage.
With six seconds left, Kristian Huselius takes a shot right down the middle, past J.S. Aubin to put the Flames on the board. Alex Tanguay and Daymond Langkow with the assists. The Kings were thisclose to getting out of the period without giving up a goal, something they haven't down often this season.
The Kings outshot the Flames, 13-6. And the wily veteran Michal Handzus, who hasn't scored a goal yet, has made his presense known in other way. He is 67 percent in the faceoff circle.
First period: Kings 2, Flames 1
Kings get an early power play, when Cammalleri is crosschecked by Matthew Lombardi. The Kings fail to capitalize, but it's only a matter of time for the ninth=ranked power play squad to light the lamp.
Jaroslav Modry get whistled for hooking, and Crawford doesn't look very happy. On the penalty kill, Johnson is making himself known, anticipating when to jump into the play if there's an opportunity of offense.
The Flames score as the Modry penalty expires. It appears that Robyn Regehr has his stick over the bar and redirects the puck, which is a big no-no. After further review, the goal stands. Later, the goal is credited to Daymond Langkow, and Regehr and Moss receive credit for the assists. We are all tied up.
It seems to me that Frolov has stepped up his intensity, perhaps gripping a bit to try and score his first goal of the season. But it's not like he's loafing out there. He does has a three game point streak going, starting back in the Boston game on the 12th.
Former King Craig Conroy scores the Flames third unanswered goal, as the Kings are showing the tell-tale signs of fatigue that usually appear late in the game. Jerome Iginla and Robyn Regehr with the assists.
If there's any question just how good Johnson is, he has a beautiful pass, through traffic, right on the stick of Kopitar. Johnson isn't your typical collegiate player, he's ready for the NHL.
Modry serves a second penalty for high-sticking Alex Tanguay. And for the second time, it leads to a Flames goal, again scored by Daymond Langkow. A defensive lapse by the Kings led this goal, when Brad Stuart does know what to do with the puck behind the goal. He coughs it up, and fails to take his place back in front of the goal as Blake was chased it in. Langkow is left alone in front of Aubin, who scores easily.
Four unanswered goals leave L.A. scratching their heads for answers. They had another 13 shots, but no goals to show for it. The effort was there early, but after the Conroy goal, the game sort of sagged.
Second period: Flames 4, Kings 2
For reasons unbeknownst to me, Jason LaBarbera starts in goal for Aubin. Maybe Crawford felt this game is out of hand, and wants to keep LaBarbera in action. He hasn't seen action since Oct. 10, in a 5-1 loss at Dallas.
The Kings get an early PP, but the Flames are now playing in a defensive bubble. The only real chance came from Dustin Brown, who almost got a garbage goal. But Kipper poked it away, as play continues. One thing that is very apparent: the Kings need more from the second PP unit.
Dustin Brown finishes a wicked open-ice hit on Huselius, which Langkow takes exception to. He comes in and starts some static with brown, and they start to fight. Thing is, Brown wears a shield, so Langkow can't get any good shots in. Brown drops a few uppercuts on Langkow, they drop to the ice, and skate to the box. Calgary winds up with another man in the box, because Langkow is also called for roughing, giving L.A. a power play.
Then Calgary gets called for Delay of Game when Phaneuf clears the puck over the glass, giving L.A. a two-man advatage. They capitalize earlier with a two-man advantage, and they do so again. Kopitar takes a cross-ice pass from Frolov and lifts it over Kipper for his fourth on the year. They are now 4 out of 9 on the two-man advantage.
Handzus and Iginla come together on the boards, and as he skates by, Thornton puts a little mustard to the Flame star. Iginla takes offense, and skates from behind and sort of pushes at Thornton, who turns around and smacks him in the face. Iginla goes down like a cheap card table, and in comes Tanguay. A crowd appears, and there's some shoving. And when it's all over, Thornton and Iginla both get the box for roughing. But there was nothing rough about Iginla, who should win for Glass Jaw of the game. Thornton did punch him in the face, but not with enough force to cause Iginla to lose his balance. Besides, I'll take that trade-off every time. Thornton for Iginla? Absolutely. I guess Iginla has been perfecting his Forsberg Flop. How about the Iginla Incline?
So, in the ensuing four on four,we get to see something that we've been waiting for: a jack Johnson/Lubomir Visnovsky pairing on D. They were paired for a shift earlier. But it looks like they aren't on the same page, as both make missteps, expecting the other to stay back.
As time winds down, Crawford runs Frolov out with Kopitar and Cammalleri. This line makes the best sense to me, if they want to make a push for a goal. As time winds down, the Kings are putting pressure on the Flames. Crawford pulls LaBarbera out of the net, and the Kings have an extra attacker.
How's this for a lineup? Visnovsky and Johnson on the blueline, Kopitar, Cammalleri and Frolov with Calder as the extra man? Talk about youth movement.
But it's not enough, as the Kings fail to get anything going in the Flames zone, and the game ends with a whimper. The Kings spend a lot of time in calgary's end, and it seemed to me they were, for the majority of the time, the better team. However, instead of folding late in the game, the Kings faltered in the second period, when they gave up three unanswered goals.
Final score: Flames 4, Kings 3
