Los Angeles Kings @ Calgary Flames: Game Preview & Discussion

Three Things to Watch

• Kevin Fiala briefly left the game against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday and seemed at times to be in pain. Fiala had just returned after being absent since exiting early on the March 9th game against the Avalanche. Fiala ultimately played 18:22 against the Blues, registering two assists, so hopefully any discomfort was temporary. Fiala’s obviously had a huge impact for the Kings; this is the first time since the 2016-17 season that a non-Anze Kopitar player has led the team in points. (Jeff Carter topped the team with 66 that year.)
• Speaking of injuries, Gabe Vilardi is out of the lineup tonight and did not accompany the team on the road trip, which takes them through Western Canada and Seattle. Vilardi is dealing with an upper-body injury. Arthur Kaliyev draws back into the lineup, and Alex Iafallo looks to be taking Vilardi’s place on the power play.  
• With nine games left in the regular season, which goalie will get the bulk of the starts? Since acquiring Joonas Korpisalo, Todd McLellan has been rotating his goaltenders, with neither Korpisalo nor Pheonix Copley getting consecutive starts. Since March 3, both goaltenders have played 5 games and have identical 4-0-1 records. Korpisalo, however, has an impressive 1.77 GAA and a .929 save percentage. (Copley: 2.37 GAA, .902 sv%)  Since March 3, Korpisalo’s GAA is tied for third-best in the league, behind Collin Delia (who played only two games) and Ivan Prosvetov (who’s played three). He ties with Filip Gustavsson, who’s played six games for the Minnesota Wild. Korpisalo’s GAA in that span has him tied for tenth with Linus Ullmark, who has the best overall GAA in the league this season.

Projected Lines

Los Angeles Kings

Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Fiala – Danault – Arvidsson
Moore – Lizotte – Iafallo
Grundstrom – Kupari – Kaliyev

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Edler – Durzi

Korpisalo
Copley

(Lines via Zach Dooley)

Calgary Flames