Solution LA | Calgary Flames

“I don't think we were competitive in the first two periods,” said head coach Ryan Huska. “I thought we skated better in the third period and we had more zone time than we did in the first two periods. stages. But I think a lot of it came down to the competitive side, not being clean or crisp with the puck.

“I felt like we were slow overall and it really starts in your zone — whether it's the speed of moving the puck (me) or how we move our feet. Their neutral zone was good tonight; I thought we did a good job of it. But I think we played a little bit because we played the game. I thought.”

The Kings opened the scoring with a powerplay goal at 6:48 after Miromanov got his hands on the puck in the neutral zone. As Arvidsson set a perfectly placed screen in front of him, Fiala took a cross from Anze Kopitar and fired a shot over Markstrom's gloved hand from just outside the box.

There were plenty of comebacks by the visitors, remember, Markstrom got angry midway through the frame after being fouled in the paint, and Adrian Kempe and Brayden Pachal were sent to the box after doubles. – minors.

Battles continued as Rasmus Andersson, Ilya Soloviev and, yes, Martin Pospisil got in on the act, but eventually cooler heads prevailed, allowing the final 30 seconds to pass uneventfully.

The Flames outscored the Kings 10-8 in the stretch, but struggled to get offense through the neutral zone, so the rushing game was mostly empty.

As a result, LA had more chances, taking a 4-1 lead after one in a high-danger display.

“I don't think we're ready for tonight,” Miromanov said. “They came out hard and got on top of us early. We weren't effective in our transition game and our breaks. They were on our sticks and bodies, and I feel like we were turning the puck over in the gray areas.

“They cleared lanes and jumped on us fast. Our job is to feed our forwards, be good at rebounding and have a great transition, a great first pass. (But) we weren't sharp today, especially. in the first period, especially early on.

“Credit to them. They've been tough, (but) we've got to really bounce back, get a good night's sleep, get some rest and be ready tomorrow.”

Less than a minute into the second, Arvidsson turned a corner to the top of the right circle and fired a wicked shot over Markstrom to give the hosts a two-goal lead.

At 7:42, Andre Roy's shot was deflected by Thomas to make it 3-0.

Thomas – a second-round pick in the 2018 draft – now has three goals in five NHL games after being called up from the AHL's Ontario Authority last week.

Back-to-back Flames penalties (a bench minor for too many men, then a questionable foul call on Andrew Mangiapan) gave the Kings a 5-on-3 53-second span in the back half of the frame. But as the old saying goes, your goalie will be your best penalty killer, and Markstrom has come up with an absolute 10-belleer out of a one-timer backdoor from Fiala.

“They're going to play a trap, 1-3-1, and we know what kind of game it's going to be,” Huberdeau said. “But we've played well against them all year, so it's no excuse. We have to play this game, play a tough game, get the puck and we didn't do that for 60 minutes.

“They're a good team. They showed it tonight. I think we have to put in a better effort to win and at least compete with a team like this. We're going to trash it, come back tomorrow and be better.”