5 Things - Flames @ Kings

1. Last Time Out

It was a game that had it all.

A pair of milestones, a shutout, and the powerplay cashed in for a goal, rounding out a pretty dominant performance.

The Flames picked up a 3-0 win over the Anaheim Ducks Thursday night, extending their win streak to three and climbing back to .500 in the process (14-14-5).

Nick DeSimone scored his first-career NHL goal with Elias Lindholm and A.J. Greer chipping in singles. Jacob Markstrom made 25 saves to record his 200th career win.

"I thought we did a good job (Thursday),” Head Coach Ryan Huska said after the win. “The first period, there were a few moments where I thought we were a little careless with the puck in the neutral zone, but as the second and third progressed, I thought we did a lot of good things, positionally and with the puck.

"I was happy with our game."

For DeSimone, the goal is a long time coming for the 29-year-old, who has been praised by teammates and coaches for his hard work to get to this point.

"That’s one of the cooler stories that you’ll see and it’s maybe a good lesson for people never to give up, too,” Huska said. “You’re 29 years old - you have barely had a taste of playing in the NHL, but it says a lot about a person’s character when you’re willing to continue to work and believe in yourself, and then make sure you’re ready when that chance came, for him.

“He’s done a really good job for us since he’s been up, he’s kept his game simple, he’s moved the puck well, it was fantastic to see him get rewarded with a goal."

The milestone win for Markstrom, meanwhile, puts him in the history books, becoming only the third Swedish goaltender in NHL history to reach the milestone, joining Henrik Lundqvist and Tommy Salo.

“Obviously, he’s been unbelievable for us all season,” Lindholm said. “For him to get the shutout - and for the team to get it as well - it’s good for everyone’s confidence.

“That’s a lot of wins. He’s still got a lot of years left in the tank so they’ll be hopefully many more to come.”

The focus now shifts over to a matchup in Hollywood, taking on the Kings for the first of four meetings this season and the last skate before a three-day holiday break.

They've battled their way to get back to .500. Now, it's an opportunity to take that up a notch and head into the holidays on a positive.

“We’ve played some good hockey lately,” Lindholm said. “Obviously, we wanted to come down here play good hockey and hopefully before the break be in a good spot and be above .500.

“Every division game is huge. Right now, we’re behind the top three there, but just look at one game at a time, this next game in LA is going to be big and then after Christmas we’ll go again. Just gotta take one game at a time and go from there.”

2. Know Your Enemy

The Kings have once again gone about their business, with an impressive 18-7-4 mark so far this season - good for third in the Pacific.

They’ve done all this while playing five less games than the Canucks and Golden Knights, who are tied for first with 47 points.

As of late, though, LA has had an up-and-down go of it, with a 5-4-1 mark in their last ten tilts and are coming off a tight 2-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday night.

“The volume was there, I didn't think we did a real good job at the net," Kings bench boss Todd McLellan said following the loss. "We had a presence but we didn't open up a lot. We didn't really want to get dirty or get down and dig in around the net. They're big and strong there so they didn't give up much there.

“Got a little bit lazy, ran out of gas a bit and as a result came out on the losing end."

The loss was the second straight on home ice, an area they're looking to improve on as on the road, the Kings hold a ridiculous 13-1-1 record compared to being 5-6-3 at Crypto.com Arena.

Headed into tonight's clash, the Kings own the fifth-best win percentage in the league and thanks to their stingy defence and strong play in goal, in large part due to former Flame Cam Talbot. As a team, the Kings have allowed a league-low 70 goals against. That has led to them owning the second best goal differential at +32.

The Kings will enjoy a three-day break after tonight, before closing out the calander year with three games in four nights starting Dec. 27 as they host the San Jose Sharks.

3. Fast Facts

Stonewalled

Jacob Markstrom’s 25-save shutout was his 14th with the Flames, surpassing Mike Vernon for sole possession of the third most in franchise history behind Miikka Kiprusoff (41) and Dan Bouchard (20). Since joining the Flames prior to the 2020-21 season, Markstrom’s 14 shutouts are the second-most among all goalies over that span, only trialing New York’s Ilya Sorokin (18).

Worth The Wait

DeSimone scored his first NHL goal at the age of 29 years, 30 days. He is the fourth-oldest player to score their first NHL goal with the Flames after Sergei Makarov (31 years, 108 days on Oct. 5, 1989), Jiri Hrdina (30 years, 70 days on March 15, 1988) and Pavel Torgaev (29 years, 288 days on Nov. 9, 1995). DeSimone is the third Flame to score their first NHL goal this season, joining Matt Coronato, Connor Zary and Martin Pospisil.

4. Did You Know?

Mikael Backlund is nine games away from surpassing Mark Giordano for the second-most games played in Flames franchise history at 950. In 941 career games, the Flames captain has collected 508 points (192 G, 316A) and is also just two points away from ninth for points in franchise history.

5. Players To Watch

Flames - Elias Lindholm

Lindholm’s three-point performance in Anaheim marked the third time this season he’s collected three points in a single game. He heads into tonight’s clash with six points in his last five overall.

The 29-year-old has been heavily relied on in all aspects of the game, currently third in ice time by centreman in the NHL at 693:01, trailing only Nathan MacKinnon (746:44) and Jack Eichel (697:12).

Kings – Anze Kopitar

At 36, the Kings captain continues to be an impact player at both ends.

Prior to Wednesday’s game in Seattle, Kopitar had five points in three games with three goals. He’s tied for first in team scoring alongside Kevin Fiala with 29 points, with his six powerplay goals and three game-winning goals - also tops on the squad.