Royal Flush

Flames score three powerplay tallies to beat visiting Kings

By Ty Pilson

@typilson CalgaryFlames.com

March 31, 2024

The powerplay was potent.

The defence stifling.

Put those two things together and you get a 4-2 Flames victory over their Pacific Division cousins - the LA Kings - Saturday night at the Scotiababank Saddledome.

On an evening the team hosted their first South Asian Celebration night, Nazem Kadri, Martin Pospisil, Blake Coleman and MacKenzie Weegar scored for the Flames as they snapped a five-game losing funk.

Andrei Kuzmenko also had a big night with two terrific assists.

Coleman's tally was his sixth game-winner of the season, while Weegar provided the insurance marker at 11:30 of the third period, scoring just seven seconds into a powerplay, their third man-up goal of the game.

Jacob Markstrom made a majestic save on Anze Kopitar earlier in the third, flashing the leather on a tip in tight by the Kings captain off a rush as they pushed to tie up the tilt.

Calgary outshot LA 35-18 on the night, allowing them just nine shots in the first two periods. Both Kings goals came courtesy of the powerplay.

The Flames had a ton of looks in the opening stanza, outshooting the visitors 16-4.

Jonathan Huberdeau feathered the puck over a defender to Coleman on an early rush to get things started, but No. 20 had to receive on his backhand and get a shot off from a tough angle that Rittich stopped.

The Flames went to the powerplay at 4:37 and wasted no time, scoring in just eight seconds when Yegor Sharangovich feed Kuzmenko to the right of the net and he tapped it to Kadri in the slot, his low one-timer finding net.

Kadri converts the Kuzmenko feed to open the scoring

But less than a minute later Joel Hanley got whistled for holding and in an odd turn of events, the Kings scored just eight seconds into their man-advantage when Adrian Kempe wired a perfectly-placed cross-ice one-timer high farside at 5:42.

Kadri put a on clinic up near the Kings blueline to start the play that led to the second Calgary tally, spinning a few times and pulling the puck around former Flame Trevor Lewis before feeding Kuzmenko who put it across the paint to Pospisil for the tap-in at 11:56.

Kuzmenko makes another dazzling play to set up Pospisil

Rasmus Andersson put in quite a shift leading to the team’s third goal coming on a powerplay at 11:58 of the third.

The Flames blueliner stepped into a clapper that was blocked by Blake Lizotte, the forward slow to get up. Andersson then took the rebound, skated to the centre of the ice and snapped a shot that hit Mikael Backlund in front and dropped to the ice where Coleman put it home for his 29^th of the season.

Coleman shovels home the loose change to score his 29th

Calgary held L.A. to just one shot for more than 17 minutes of the period when the Kings got a powerplay. Markstrom stopped their second shot – coming off the stick of Kempe on a similar shot to his earlier goal – but Kopitar would beat him at 18:25 to make it a one-goal game.

Weegar's tally then came courtesy of a lovely feed from Huberdeau, who took a pass down low and made everyone think he was going cross crease but dropped it back high to Weegar who stepped in a shot from one knee.

Flames blueliner ices game with his 18th of the season