5 Things - Flames @ Kings

1. One More Ride

They've played with pride all season.

Tonight, this year's iteration of the Flames will get one last chance to represent the city with that same passion.

Amid the disappointment of seeing their playoff fate sealed two nights ago, Calgary rallied, and scored one last home win in 2024-25 in front of the C of Red.

This evening's game won't impact the overall standings - for either side - but make no mistake, this is a proud Flames group.

And it's that pride - that commitment to each other - that has MacKenzie Weegar optimistic about what lies ahead.

"I think for next year, it kinda sets us up to have higher standards, and higher expectations now," he said of his team's season, which saw the Flames stay in the hunt for 81 games when pre-season predictions suggested anything but. "When expectations were low, we proved people wrong, we did the right thing. Nobody thought we could have done this, this year, well next year, people know that we can do this, so next year, I’m assuming that the expectations and standards are going to be higher.

"That’s what I want here. I want the high expectations, I want people to think that we’re going to be in the playoffs. It gets everybody in the belief again. It obviously is sad and disappointing, but there’s a lot of good things that happened this year. We took a lot of steps forward."

But even though tonight's game won't change Calgary's post-season fate, it's bound to mean a lot for some of the youngsters on the trip.

Zayne Parekh, Aydar Suniev, Hunter Brzustewicz and Sam Morton are all here (see more below), and we're sure to see some - if not all - of them on the ice for their NHL debuts against L.A.

What better way to welcome them to the NHL than with a win?

2. Know Your Enemy

The Kings are playoff-bound, and they'll have home-ice advantage for their first-round series with the Oilers.

That's right. Los Angeles and Edmonton are meeting in the post-season for a fourth consecutive year.

The Kings got to where they are - second place in the Pacific Division - with plenty of help from their home ice. L.A. boasts a 31-5-4 record at Crypto.com Arena, though the Flames are the only NHL club who has yet to skate there in 2024-25.

Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala have enjoyed matching 35-goal seasons, and the Kings boast five players with 20 or more goals, with two more (Alex Laferriere and Trevor Moore) at 19 and 18, respectively.

Former Red Deer Rebel Darcy Kuemper has been rock-solid in goal, too. His .922 save percentage is second-best in the league among goalies with 35 or more appearances.

Los Angeles comes into tonight's contest on four straight wins - including a 5-0 whitewash in Edmonton Monday - and the Kings have been victors in eight of their last nine outings.

With the playoffs set to begin Saturday, it's the perfect time to go on a bit of a streak.

3. Fast Facts

2024-25 Season Series

The Flames go in search of their first season series sweep of the Kings in 16 years this evening, having won the two previous encounters - both at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Mikael Backlund, Jonathan Huberdeau and Kevin Rooney scored the Calgary markers in a 3-1 win Nov. 11, while Huberdeau notched the decider in a 2-1 Flames triumph exactly two months later.

Dustin Wolf is 2-0-0 against the Kings this season, too, having turned aside 59 of 61 shots in the season set.

Did You Know?

On this day in 2006, Flames goaltending coach Jason LaBarbera recorded his first career NHL shutout - as a member of the Los Angeles Kings.

LaBarbera stopped all 31 shots he faced that night, helping L.A. knock off the San Jose Sharks in what also served as Hall of Fame forward Luc Robitaille's final NHL contest.

LaBarbera finished his NHL career with six clean sheets - four in a Kings uniform - over his 187 NHL appearances with L.A., Vancouver, Phoenix, Edmonton and Anaheim.

He's been a member of the Flames coaching staff for five seasons.

4. Four In The Fold

There's a chance that four Flames prospects could each make their NHL debuts tonight in Los Angeles.

That's a lot of rookie laps!

Defenceman Zayne Parekh and forward Aydar Suniev have each been with the club for over a week since their junior and collegiate seasons ended, respectively.

In the absence of full practices over the past week or so, both have been regular participants in morning skates; Parekh even took powerplay reps earlier this week at the Scotiabank Saddledome.

But Calgary also recalled d-man Hunter Brzustewicz and centre Sam Morton from the AHL just before taking off for California Wednesday afternoon.

Brzustewicz, one of the pieces acquired from Vancouver in the Elias Lindholm trade last January, has put up 31 points from the blue line (5G, 26A) in his first pro season. His most recent tally was a game-winner this past Saturday in Abbotsford.

Morton is up to 20 goals and 45 points on the campaign, sitting fifth among Wranglers scoring leaders in his first full season of pro hockey.

5. Players to Watch

Flames - Morgan Frost

Frost was all over it Tuesday night against Vegas and seems determined to finish the season on a strong note.

He scored the first of the Flames' four goals Tuesday - then closed out the evening's offence in the shootout - and comes into tonight's season finale riding a three-game point streak.

Kings - Andrei Kuzmenko

It's Kuzmenko's second meeting against the Flames since being dealt to the Flyers Jan. 31, and he'll go into tonight's tilt seeking his second tally of the season against his former club.

And it appears the Russian forward has found a home in L.A.

He comes into this evening's contest with 10 points (2G, 8A) in the month of April.