"...if you know the name of the King or Queen being murdered, press 1..."
The Kings/Flames contest takes on added significance tonight in light of Colorado's victory over the Ducks yesterday (I guess I should just be happy that the BJ's and the Wild got the job done). As it sits now, the Flames are 5th in the West and 2nd in the NW division. A win this evening would vault them back on top with Colorado (plus a game in hand) and move them ever closer to that all important 96 point mark.
As for the Los Angeles, they currently reside in 10th place in West with 81 points, a mere 5 points away from the Flames. A victory for them would mean leapfrogging San Jose and drawing within a point of Edmonton and Vancouver.
Unfortunately for the Kings, they have been going through the same injury dance they seem to go through every year. The likes of Roenick, Frolov, Demitra and Val Bure are all shelved by various ailments. Throw in the shakey goaltending that they've received since January and you have the recipe for a coach firing. Which is, of course, what happened.
Since Murray's departure, Torchetti has lead LA to a 1-1 record, including the 7-4 spanking they received at the hands of the Canucks recently. Im not sure if this benefits the Flames at all, since Im totally ignorant of what the King's dressing room feels like post-Murray and what kind of coach Torchetti is. I guess we'll see.
What does benefit the Flames is the King's road record - a less than impressive 15-17-4. Of course, one of those 15 road victories came over Calgary in December when the then surging Los Angeles handed Calgary a humbling 5-2 defeat. That was during the height of Calgary's "lose after building a two goal lead" phase (and that game was no exception), so hopefully tonight's contest will have a different conclusion.
As far as the Flames are concerned, they're going to have to fight through some injuries (Warrener, Nilson and possibly McCarty) to re-discover their winning ways. As was documented extensively in the post below, if the Flames don't straighten up and fly right down the stretch, they could be battling for decent draft position rather than Lord Stanley come the end of April...
