Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames desperate for playoff spot as they face each other –NHL Preview
The National Hockey League (NHL) Pacific Division is seemingly the most competitive one at the moment. Four of its five teams are competing quite desperately to qualify for the postseason and with just five or six more games left in the regular season, the
situation is still not clear.
Ranked fourth in the Pacific Division, the Los Angeles Kings are going to take on the Calgary Flames on Wednesday, March 28, at Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
A victory for Kings could take them atop of the division.
On the other hand, Flames are also out of the comfort zone in the Western Conference and they will have to win the remaining five games of the regular season to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Let’s have a look at both teams.
Kings
They are ranked at ninth spot in the Western Conference with 86 points after 76 games and are one point behind the eighth-ranked Phoenix Coyotes.
Kings are currently on a two-game losing streak with the defeats coming against Boston Bruins (4-2) and Vancouver Canucks (1-0).
Against Canucks, Kings tried hard to score, but the offence continued to struggle and despite a commendable performance on defence, the team lost the game.
Kings’ coach, Darryl Sutter, said after the game:
"It was a hard game for us because we're coming off those two really physical games, and you could see there wasn't a lot of energy in our game. We were doing everything right. A tough one."
Kings will play their next three games on road.
Flames
They are ranked at 11th spot in the Western Conference with 85 points after 77 games and are two points behind the eighth-ranked Coyotes.
In their last game, Flames snapped their five-game skid after defeating Dallas Stars.
Flames and Stars scored apiece in the first period, but the former found the momentum in the second and scored four goals while giving away only two.
Stars added one goal in the final period, but could not overcome the deficit and lost the game, 5-4.
Flames’ left wing, Alex Tanguay, said of the game against Kings:
"We're going to give it our all; there's no holding back. We want to be in. We've worked so hard for the past two months, played some very good hockey. Haven't been as lucky as we'd like to be, but maybe this luck will come our way the last few games."
Predictions
Kings have an edge.
The sum of goals scored by both teams might be six or more.
If Flames win, the winning margin will be less than two goals.
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