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The Los Angeles Kings' franchise record-setting 12-game point streak came to an end last night, as they fell 2-1 to the Calgary Flames.
Blake Lizotte returned to the lineup following his suspension, while Gabriel Vilardi was dealing with an injury and didn’t make the road trip. Meanwhile, Arthur Kaliyev and Alex Edler came back into the lineup in place of Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Sean Walker, while Joonas Korpisalo got the start.
The Kings found themselves down right away, with Andrew Mangiapane burying a rebound on a power play only two minutes in to open the scoring. Sean Durzi tied it up a little later though, getting a drop pass on a rush and wiring a shot past Jacob Markstrom. However, with only two minutes to go in the period, rookie Walker Duehr got to a rebound off the end boards from a Trevor Lewis shot, and beat Joonas Korpisalo to put Calgary back ahead. Kevin Fiala did have a great chance to tie it right back up on a clean breakaway afterwards, but couldn’t convert and the period ended with the Kings trailing.
Los Angeles then got outplayed through a lot of the second frame and it looked like Calgary may have extended the lead midway through the period, but after a long review, it was determined there was no evidence the puck crossed the line. The Kings ended up taking some penalties in the back half of the frame which didn't help either, but they managed to kill them off to keep it a one-goal game through 40 minutes.
Los Angeles then came out with their best period by far in the final frame, outshooting the Flames 11-4. The Kings certainly had their chances and pressed right until the end, but Jacob Markstrom came up with a few big saves and the Kings fell short.
The loss marks the end of a great stretch for Los Angeles. It was also certainly a different story between the first 40 minutes and back 20 minutes for the Kings. It took the team a little while to get going, and their play in the final frame was much more representative of how they've looked over the point streak.
You do have to credit the Flames to an extent for a strong start and sustaining momentum through much of the beginning of the game. Again though, the Kings hung around and had a chance to win. Korpisalo also put together another strong game, Markstrom just got the edge.
The Kings would’ve had a chance to tie the Vegas Golden Knights for top spot in the division if they had picked up a win last night as well. On the flip side, with the Edmonton Oilers only a single point back of Los Angeles, the Kings’ game tomorrow in Edmonton could go a long way towards securing home ice advantage in the playoffs.
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