Game 53: Flames 2, Kings 0

The Boys are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy blared from the speakers at Staples, as the Kings take to the ice for the first time since finishing their impressive road trip. For the first time in three years, meaningful hockey was being played in L.A. in February.

They ran into one problem however, a buzzsaw of a goaltender, Miikka Kiprusoff, who denied all of the Kings' 36 shots for his third shutout of the season. The Flames remain unbeaten by the Kings, and have outscored L.A., 11-4.

The Flames just seem to be one of those teams that has the Kings' numbers. With the victory, Calgary has taken the season series against L.A. for the third year in a row. The Kings were out-hit, a calling card for Dustin Brown and the team. They have one more opportunity to settle the score and avoid the sweep by Calgary, at their house in April.

The Flames only registered 20 shots, and only two Flames scored, Michael Cammalleri and Adrian Aucoin. Two of the three stars went to Kipper and the game-winner Aucoin. But there's usually three stars given out. They could've given it to Cammy, I suppose. But the media decided to bestow the third star on  Apparently, Brown's 6 hits was enough the secure the third star.

I won't lie. I was riding high after the Kings' recent success on the road. All I read/heard was just how good the Kings have become, and I really started to drink the Kool-Aid. I looked at my upcoming work schedule to see what days I would need to ask off so I can blog from Staples. I started running trade scenarios for forwards in my mind after the Kings failed to score on Kipper. I started to be swayed by RudyKelly from Battle of California, that maybe the Kings should've held onto Cammy. I felt the playoffs slipping from us, and started to panic.

But then I remembered, my expectations of the playoffs must be tempered with patience. After all, this is only Year 3 (or Year 2, depending on who you ask) of the rebuilding process. The key thing is to build the team from within, which they have done. This stretch drive is important for the youngsters, to learn how to rely upon one another as teammates and grow as a unit.

I agree with something one of the Islanders commentators said during their game on Tuesday. I'm paraphrasing here, but the gist of it was the Kings have rebuilt themselves the right way, and that it's paying off early dividends. The important thing is continuing to grow as a team the remaining games left on the schedule, and if they make the playoffs, that's gravy. I distinctly remembered "gravy," because it made me long for some biscuits and gravy from Chick Fil A. Mmmm, guess where I'm going for lunch.

Saturday is Valentine's Day, and I made the mistake of telling my wife I was planning on doing something else that night. Honestly, I forgot. So with 10 games left at Staples, I'm going to try and make it to as many of the remaining home games that I can. I will be attending Monday night's game against Atlanta, but I'm not writing from Staples. I'm actually taking my daughter for a Daddy/Daughter date, and sitting in some really good seats, thanks to the generosity of a friend.

It also coincides with Bailey's, the Kings mascot, birthday. Apparently, he will be joined by many of the mascots from around the NHL. My daughter, who's five, loved Spike the Ice Dog from the Long Beach Ice Dogs. When she spotted Bailey, she fell in love again. Now, with all of them in one place, I was informed that she wants to meet them all. Yikes. Maybe if I ply her with enough popcorn and ice cream, she'll stay put. But who am I to deny her?

• AP:  Calgary shuts out Los Angeles 2-0

    “Todd made a pretty exceptional pass. He put the puck on his backhand and then made a saucer pass that landed pretty much on my tape and I just had to put it in,” said Michael Cammalleri, who was roundly booed by fans who saw him play his first five seasons in Los Angeles.
    “I think people in L.A. don’t understand the fact that I got traded,” Cammalleri said. “I didn’t leave. There is a difference.”

• LA Times:  Kings are stopped by Flames

The Kings looked indecisive as they moved the puck around at a glacial pace. As a result only two shots reached Kiprusoff during the two-man advantage, several more being deflected by Flames.

• Press-Enterprise: Staples slows Kings' momentum

    They could, if they wished, have rationalized it as one of those nights. But no one did, because this is the hard truth about a playoff chase: You can't afford one of those nights.
      Not many, anyway.

• Yahoo: Team report

    There’s little shame in getting shut out by Miikka Kiprusoff, one of the top goalies in the world, but the Kings had to be frustrated, given the number of chances they had. The Kings had two 5-on-3 power plays but couldn’t convert. The big chance came in the first five minutes of the third period, when the Kings had a two-man advantage for 1:54, but couldn’t score. The Kings out-shot the Flames 36-20.

They said it

    “We played hard, historically the first home game is a very difficult one after a road trip, but the effort, the work side of it, the structure, and the system was great but the part that was missing, when you have a goaltender that’s as good as (Miikka) Kiprusoff is, you have to make life more difficult for him.”—Kings coach Terry Murray.

"When it's five on three, you should be scoring. That was the game right there." – Kings' center Anze Kopitar.

Looking through purple-hued goggles

• A Queen Among Kings: Back at it

    It was definitely frustrating to watch especially because the puck spent the majority of the game in the offensive zone. One thing I liked was that Jack Johnson and Drew Doughty got more than a minute to play with each other 5-on-5. Those two are so skilled that I'm hoping they don't create a top-heavy defensive core, and I only say that because Kyle Quincey's play has been dropping as of late in that he's taking more penalties because his temper seems to get the better of him more often than not.

• Inside Hockey: Kings Fall to Kiprusoff

    If the Kings had one big chance, it was that five-on-three, which they didn’t do much with. They didn’t get set up in the zone, and didn’t get in front of the net. Example: Kopitar and O’Sullivan were both at the right boards at one point, and nobody was in the slot. Thus there was no one to get the puck to had they been in position to pass.

• Examiner.com: Meet the FOK-ers

    Scoring opportunities don’t just magically appear though, even for teams with catchy line nicknames. The ability to produce quality goal scoring chances comes from a commitment to forechecking.

• Frozen Royalty: Kings Can’t Punch Through Calgary Fortress

From the other side of the ice, the Calgary view

• Calgary Sun: Kipper steals show in L.A.

• Calgary Herald: Kipper and Flames crown Kings

• Hit the Post: Systems

Kings-related news

• LA Times: Kings' success on the road has them thinking playoffs

    "As a team, we never lost sight of the playoffs," said defenseman Matt Greene, a veteran on the NHL's youngest team. "I don't think there's any change in the attitude, but maybe we're starting to find our groove a little bit more."

• LA Times' Fabulous Forum: Kings' Drew Doughty could be an Olympic candidate

    "Just one name ... Drew Doughty is a tremendous player out in Los Angeles," Steve Yzerman said. "A lot can happen down the stretch here and a lot can happen next season. I think some of these kids, just because there's so much depth in front of them, they're going to have to be pretty exceptional just to be on the Olympic team. There's a chance....
    "In all likelihood there probably won't be a teenager on it, but if a young kid merits a spot on the team, he's going to be there."

• Daily News: Playoffs not just a dream for Kings

    Based on the way they've played of late, though, it wouldn't be wise to count out the Kings. At 24-21-7, they are three games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2005-06 season. And they just completed a shockingly effective road trip in which they went 4-1, with only a late-game collapse against Montreal preventing an undefeated trip.

• Daily News: Kings netting success

"I feel I played well, but it's a reflection of how the team played," Quick said. "We were playing off each other. One line would go out and have a good shift and the next line would go out and have a good shift. It carried on right down the bench. Everyone played off each other. It was a great roadtrip."

• ESPN: Quick, Kings forcing critics to take notice

    "It's been really exciting," rookie netminder Jonathan Quick told ESPN.com. "We're just trying to make a strong playoff push here. There's eight to 10 teams fighting for a couple of playoff spots. We want to make sure we're one of them at the end of the year.

• Sporting News: Handicapping playoff chances for Western Conference bubble teams

    The Kings are inexperienced but their youthful energy pushed them back into the playoff race. They're still a year away, and if they don't get in this season, they should next year. Jonathan Quick has been a revelation in goal, especially considering management was in the market for a goalie earlier this season.

Peeping the dailies