Settle For A Split

The Flames win one, lose one on their California road trip after a 5-3 setback in Los Angeles

By Chris Wahl

@wahlsy CalgaryFlames.com

December 24, 2023

Two goals 3:29 apart in the second period gave the Kings a lead they would not relinquish, handing the Flames a 5-3 setback on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.

Blake Coleman counted a pair of tallies to take sole possession of the team's goal-scoring lead with 12, while Rasmus Andersson also found the back of the net for Calgary in its final game before the holiday break.

Watch all the highlights from Saturday's clash in Tinseltown

The homeside opened the scoring 61 seconds into the first period thanks to Quinton Byfield, who accepted a setup from Drew Doughty before one-timing his ninth goal of the season.

Flames netminder Jacob Markstrom was tested moments later on a point-blank chance from Trevor Moore, denying the 15-goal man with his right pad on a low shot from the slot.

Markstrom - who was terrific all night, particularly in the third period to keep his team in the fight - finished with 29 saves.

Unfazed by the early goal against, the Flames responded 2:47 into the contest on Andersson's fifth goal of the season.

The Calgary blueliner snapped a shot goalward from the right wing half-wall that handcuffed former Flames netminder Cam Talbot in the Los Angeles net.

The Flames almost grabbed the lead at the seven-minute mark when Elias Lindholm was sprung in alone by Yegor Sharangovich off an odd-man rush, but Talbot was equal to the task on an effort from close range.

Andersson's bid from the half wall changes direction and ties the game at one

Markstrom was the busier of the two goaltenders in the first period and saved his best work for a Calgary penalty kill in the later stages of the frame.

The Flames puck-stopper denied the Kings on a pair of one-timers, first on an Adrian Kempe slot shot, then off Anze Kopitar's effort from the left circle.

Los Angeles reclaimed the lead one second after their man-advantage expired, though, when Pierre-Luc Dubois redirected a point shot past Markstrom for his sixth goal of the campaign.

The Flames pressed to equalize before the first period was through, coming close on a speedy rush from Nazem Kadri that also produced a rebound opportunity from Martin Pospisil, but the Kings retained a 2-1 lead at the break.

Los Angeles outshot Calgary 13-7 in the opening frame.

The Flames ability to score shorthanded goals has been a talking point all season long, and again, the duo of Coleman and Sharangovich made good on an opportunity after Coleman stripped Kings defenceman Jordan Spence in the neutral zone.

He dished to Sharangovich, who floated a return feed back across the low slot for Coleman to bang into the net from just outside the blue paint 4:01 into the middle stanza.

The marker was Calgary's league-leading ninth shorthanded goal of the season, and sixth in December; Coleman has accounted for four of those tallies this month alone.

Coleman nets a shorty off a pretty pass from Sharky

The score did not stay level for long, though. The Kings grabbed a 3-2 lead when Alex Laferriere took advantage of a fortuitous bounce at Markstrom's right post two-and-a-half minutes after Coleman's equalizer.

Los Angeles extended their lead to 4-2 through Moore at the midpoint of the period.

The Flames had a couple of opportunities to get back on the scoresheet in the latter stages of the frame, first on a slot shot from Connor Zary that struck iron with just under seven minutes remaining.

Coleman nearly replicated his goal from earlier in the period on a rush with Mikael Backlund, but a back-checking King did just enough to thwart the Calgary winger from tapping in a puck at Talbot's back post.

Shots in the second period were 13-11 in Los Angeles' favour.

Calgary put on the pressure to start the third, which began with 3:48 of powerplay time for the guests, but it took the Flames' fifth man-advantage opportunity of the night to solve the Kings' penalty-kill.

At 7:18, Coleman banged in a rebound from just outside the crease to trim the deficit to 4-3, after Adam Ruzicka sent the puck goalward from the right flank.

Coleman cleans up the rebound and the Flames strike on the PP

At the other end, Markstrom stood tall to preserve the 4-3 scoreline, denying Los Angeles on a pair of attempts shortly after Coleman's tally, including one off a Kevin Fiala partial breakaway with just over eight minutes gone in the frame.

He stoned Dubois on a clear-cut breakaway with a sound positional stop with six minutes left, not long after a Mikael Backlund shot attempt forced Talbot into a reaction save on a Calgary powerplay to highlight a breathless stretch of play.

Then, with the Flames short-handed late, Markstrom flung himself across his crease to deny Moore a tap-in that would have all but sealed it for the home side.

Markstrom robs Moore at the doorstep

Byfield iced it for Los Angeles with a minute left to play; he raced after a loose puck in the Calgary zone and pushed it into the empty net for his second goal of the contest.

Markstrom stopped all eight shots he faced in the third period, while Talbot earned the win with a 29-save performance.

Andersson led all Calgary skaters with five shots on goal.