CALGARY— Los Angeles pulled a feat not seen in 22 years. Scoring three goals in a row, the Kings held off a late rush from the Flames to win their eighth consecutive victory in a 3-2 win at the Saddledome Monday night.
Just one game away from repeating history, the Kings final game of a three-game road trip came against the Flames who sit sixth in the Pacific Division. With another easy team in their sights, the Kings once again took control of the game early. Defenseman Justin Williams scored on a tip in from Anze Kopitar where the forwards 35th assist gave Williams his 17th of the season.
The Flames evened up play with the Kings, but with them down a goal, there was no room for error. The Flames did allow the Kings their first power play, but LA’s recent success on even strength maintained that focus. They scored midway through Trevor Lewis scoring on a tip in from Slava Voynov’s drive from the blue line to give Lewis his fourth of the year.
The Kings goals helped them mold the second period to their comfort allowing no opportunities for Calgary to beat out Martin Jones in his first game since February 26. The 24 year-old saw just seven shots to go clean.
Calgary’s last chance arrived with a final period of 20 minutes to play the killjoy for the Kings, as they saw their eighth win on the horizon. They couldn’t gain ground fast enough as the Kings scored on a third tip in, that gave Kopitar his 20th. Drew Doughty’s shot bounced in front of the crease of goaltender Joni Ortio for Kopitar to score the Kings third unanswered.
Time played against the Flames who pulled out all the stops to make up for the early mistakes on defense and came up big with five minutes left with their first goal on a deflection given to Mike Cammalleri for his 16th of the season. Mark Giordano’s shot from the glove side of Jones sent a line drive that hit Cammalleri’s stick to earn his 25th assist. The Flames found themselves down a goal with Brian McGrattan scoring on a drive out front to record his third. The offense came too late as time was not on Calgary’s side as it came too late as the final 90 seconds for the sixth man came up empty for the Kings to repeat history.
Jones, playing for the first time in five games shared in the team’s success as he made 24 saves on 26 shots giving him his 10th victory. Ortio made 20 saves in his fifth start, holding a two-game skid for the Flames. The Kings go for history in front of their fans at the Staples Center where they face the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs are on a three-game streak eager to kill LA’s chances of breaking a record.
