Flames prepare to face red-hot Kings

Clash with Los Angeles on Tuesday the latest must-win for Calgary

Amidst the excitement of 2021 first-round draft choice Matt Coronato signing after his sophomore season at Harvard University and expected to join the team, the Calgary Flames have something more pressing.

The Flames (33-26-15, 81 points) hit the ice Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Kings sitting four points out of a playoff spot, and can ill afford to lose.

Drumming up a victory will be no easy feat for the Flames. The Kings (42-20-10, 96 points) have won two of three meetings this season, including the 8-2 beatdown they handed the Flames just over a week ago.

If that’s not enough to scare those who are holding out hope the Flames can make a miracle run to the playoffs, the Kings are on a franchise-record run for consecutive games earning a point with a 10-0-2 run.

Calgary is coming off Saturday’s 5-3 win over the San Jose Sharks, but hardly held control of that game for a big part of it.

Whether it helps, the Flames are well versed in the “you’re being written off” by the media and fans to help increase their motivation.

“We can’t really worry about what other people are thinking,” said forward Tyler Toffoli. “We just have to win every game we can and every game we win keeps us in it.”

By the way, don’t expect Coronato to suit up for the game. Although it’s a very good bet he will see action at some point before the season ends, the club is preaching patience while he becomes acclimatized.

Coach Darryl Sutter even made a point of saying Coronato should watch games with a particular eye on Toffoli.

Here are three keys to watch when the puck drops:

Toffoli shooting for new heights: With 31 goals on the season, Toffoli has equaled his personal best, set in the 2015-16 season while with the Kings. Rest assured, he would love to set a new standard against his former squad in the hopes of keeping Calgary’s playoff hopes alive.

Toffoli, who scored twice against San Jose, has netted six goals and eight assists over the past 11 games. The 67 points he has collected this season is already a career high.

Take the over: This is the fourth and final meeting of the season, and all of them have seen plenty of red-light action. The Flames took the first meeting 6-5 at home in November, but the Kings drummed up a 4-3 win just before Christmas and won that 8-2 clash. (Now, watch it be a 2-1 finale and break this trend.)

Flames had best be choir boys: Calgary has a strong penalty kill, but that’s by necessity. The Flames are fifth in the league for most times shorthanded this season. It’s important they are on their best behaviour against the Kings. Los Angeles is tied for second in the league with a 25.7% power play and been absolutely ripping it up recently. The Kings are 7-for-12 in their last three games, including a 4-for-5 performance in their 7-6 win over the Blues on Sunday.

QUICK HITS: The game marks Calgary’s Pride Night, and the players are expected to don special sweaters in warmup … The Flames have a 12-6-3 record against Pacific Division rivals. By comparison, the Kings have an 11-4-3 mark in divisional games … Calgary has a 17-15-4 home record and the Kings have a 18-11-6 record on the road … The Kings roster is loaded with hot-stick players. Viktor Arvidsson and Drew Doughty have both scored in three consecutive games. Arvidsson has three straight multi-point games and recorded nine points (6-3-9) over the past six games.