Beyond the Boxscore: Calgary Flames show LA Kings they won’t go quietly into the night

The Calgary Flames did everything within their power to disrupt the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. The Kings didn’t do a tremendous job of limiting their own offensive zone chances and hardly got more themselves, but when ready Markstrom was down for the task. Playoffs are a long lost thought at this point, but at least the Calgary Flames will go out swinging.

CF% – 60.25%, SCF% – 56.43%, HDCF% – 49.45%, xGF% – 50.6%

It’s a Team Game – I’m still convinced LA actually sleepwalked through this. It was all Calgary for so long as the Kings failed to generate even a runny nose. LA relied heavily on their PP for offence but at 5v5 they were a completely outplayed by the Flames. It was not particularly close either – it’s been that way for about a week around the NHL for Calgary, defence wins championships but it did not win the Kings this game.

Corsi King – Connor Zary (85.02%) getting his groove back has to be a top priority for Calgary. They’ve already now split him from Kadri – to success for 91 – but he still thrives at his position. Best finishing talent on the Flames for anyone not named Kuzmenko (38.39%) or Sharangovich (77.65%), Zary has been snakebitten since his injury return. There’s only single digit games left, and it’s been a while since he’s now returned, he needs to recover from that in a hurry and continue to develop.

Pressure –