5 Things - Flames @ Kings

1. Oh. So. Close

Down 4-0 in the third period Wednesday night, the homeside brought the C of Red to their feet three times in the final frame but fell short in a 4-3 loss.

Joel Farabee scored a shorthanded penalty shot, while Matt Coronato scored just over a minute later to cut the lead in half. MacKenzie Weegar then pulled the Flames within one at 14:40.

Devin Cooley made 25 saves in the outing for Calgary, while John Gibson had 34 stops for the Wings.

“I thought there was a lot of good from our side tonight,” Calgary coach Ryan Huska told media after. “We made two mistakes in the first period that they scored goals on, one off the rush and one poor D-zone coverage and they capitalized on both those chances.

"I liked the push at the end, but we gave them, of course, too many (goals).”

The resolve never wavered in the game as the Flames pushed hard right to the final whistle.

“I know it was 4-0, but there was belief that we were coming back,” Weegar said. “We almost did it. That was a big penalty-shot goal and (then goals by) Matty and myself, I thought we had a good chance to tie it up.”

This current two-game trip to California is the annual Dads & Mentors Trip, the players getting to bring them along and spend time with some of the most important people in their life. The club held a dinner for everyone when they arrived in L.A.

2. Know Your Enemy

The Kings can appreciate the Willie Nelson classic On The Road Again.

Away from the friendly confines of Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles, they are a sparkling 10-2-5.

At home, they are 4-6-3.

They will be looking to add to their home win column in front of the team's faithful in this clash, coming off a 3-2 overtime loss to the Kraken in Seattle on Thursday night, when Vince Dunn scored 1:21 into overtime.

Jared McCann opened the scoring in the second period but Alex Laferriere tallied his seventh of the season while shorthanded for the Kings to knot things up after 40 minutes.

Kevin Fiala put LA ahead at 14:40 with a powerplay marker before Matty Beniers forced extra time with a powerplay marker with 26 seconds left to go in regulation.

The game was all about special teams, Seattle going 3-for-7 while the Kings - who had won two straight coming in - converted once on the man up and had the shorthanded marker.

“No goals scored at 5-on-5, so I thought both teams checked, and neither of them are the most offensive teams, so that was on par with what we expected,” Los Angeles coach Jim Hiller told media after the game. “Lots of penalties on both sides tonight, and too many for us. That probably is the difference in the game.”

3. Fast Facts

Razzle Dazzle:

Rasmus Andersson set up MacKenzie Weegar’s third period marker on Wednesday night to register the 199th assist of his career. With one more helper, Andersson would become the 24th defenceman of Swedish decent in NHL history to reach the 200-assist plateau, and the ninth-active Swedish rearguard to reach the milestone. Andersson has recorded 22 points (7G, 15A) so far this season, ranking second among blueliners from Sweden in 2025-26 with his seven goals setting the pace.

Naz-Him:

Nazem Kadri recorded a pair of assists on Wednesday against Detroit to record his second-consecutive multi-assist game and now has helpers in three-consecutive outings, and in four of his last five contests. Against Buffalo on Monday, Kadri reached the 20-assist plateau in his 31st game of the season. Only one Flames player in the past five years has needed fewer games than Kadri to hit the 20-assist mark: Johnny Gaudreau, who did so in 28 games in 2021–22.

Stick tap to Flames PR guru Jordan Bay for these tidbits

4. New Chase Episode Has Dropped!

5. Players To Watch

Flames - Joel Farabee

He scored a beautiful shorthanded penalty shot in the loss to the Red Wings, and has three points in his last three games.

Kings - Adrian Kempe

The dynamic forward, who signed a new eight-year, $85 million dollar deal on Nov. 17 with LA, leads the Kings in scoring with 27 points in 30 games, and his 10 goals is second only to Kevin Fiala. He has a goal and four points in his last three outings.