Kings-Flames: Against the Grain Preview

Since we last had a big ol' brother duel...

IN: Krys Kolanos

OUT: Mikael Backlund (shoulder), Blair Jones (ankle), Lee Stempniak (ankle sprain) Derek Smith (ankle), David Moss, Curtis Glencross (knee)

Possible lineup:

Tanguay-Jokinen-Iginla
Kostopoulos-Cammalleri-Comeau
Kolanos-Horak-Bouma
Byron-Stajan-Jackman

Bouwmeester-Butler
Giordano-Hannan
Brodie-Sarich

Pre-Game Rant:

The Kings did a ton of good things against Phoenix and also ran into a super hot goalie, Mike Smith, who had given up only three goals in his last four games. Let's not kid ourselves, the offense needs help. But if that had happened to any other team it wouldn't have triggered so large a freakout.

A theory that is gaining steam is that the Kings are exactly the same team under Sutter as they were under Murray. No. Murray always had a middling possession team at best. Under TM, when the Kings were trying to close a one goal deficit, they were actually being out-shot by the opposition. This changed in a big way once Murray was fired. They are now in the league's top ten.

Let's not let our concern for actual problems blind us to the fact that this team is still in it.

Play on.