It was a hard fought, very physical game on Thursday night as the Calgary Flames snapped a 3 game losing streak with a 2-1 loss over the Los Angeles Kings.  It’s LA’s 8th straight loss at the Saddledome and Calgary’s second win this season over the Kings.  The physicality of this hockey game was the most intriguing thing coming out of it and a big reason why Calgary came out on the winning end.

The Flames were physical from the very get-go and it became more of a factor as the game progressed.  The most noticeable battle was between Calgary’s Mark Giordano and LA’s Dustin Brown.  The 2 of them were taking runs at eachother the entire night, with Giordano coming away as the victor in their little game with a game.  Every time the 2 of them were on the ice, it seemed like they were physically engaged, and one of Giordano’s hits lead to an LA penalty when Raitis Ivanans jumped him immediately following.  But Calgary’s physicality really wore down the Kings as the game went along, with Giordano and Eric Nystrom and Robyn Regehr and Adam Pardy all really pushing the physical pace.  That was a big part of the win.

Mike Rogers said on the postgame show he was a little disappointed with Calgary’s 3rd period, which is probably fair.  The Flames were outshot 16-3 in the final frame, and the Kings dominated the final 8 or 9 minutes after Corey Elkins got them on the bored at 11:06.  From there, Miikka Kiprusoff had to make big and timely saves, as the Kings were continually buzzing around the net.  Head Coach Terry Murray was very impressed with the fight his Kings showed, and his opinion was had it not been for #34, they might have come away with a win.  Give the Kings credit, because they really did turn this game around…it’s not as if they played poorly in the opening 2 periods, but they elevated in the 3rd.

Even though the third wasn’t perfect for Calgary, they still were effective.  They scored the winning goal 62 seconds into the period, and while they were outshot as the period went along, sometimes you have to whether the storm.  When you have a goaltender like Kiprusoff, that can happen once in a while…now, Head Coach Brent Sutter won’t like everything in that third, but the team did close the game out and improve their record to 15-0-1 when leading after 2.

The opening 40 for Calgary was impressive and much better than the previous 3 games.  The Flames were physical, as we mentioned, but the little things were being done.  Calgary was winning puck battles, was great with their back pressure through the neutral zone, and the forwards were well positioned to let the blueliners step up and really push the physical play.   Calgary’s cycle was real good offensively and the Flames made it difficult for LA to get shots in, blocking 14 on the night.

Finally, Calgary’s PK has to be praised.  They were perfect on this night, going 3 for 3 and the PK was very good at a key time of the game.  After the Kings had scored to get within 1, they had a powerplay almost immediately following which was killed off very impressively.  Calgary’s job of taking away the middle of the ice was especially good while down a man.  Overall, Calgary’s PK has allowed just 2 goals over their last 5 games in 22 opportunities.  Over their last 14 games, Calgary’s PK is clicking at 90.4%.

The Flames welcome Nashville Saturday afternoon.  Follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Steinberg960.

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