Flames defeat Kings in Sutter's return to Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES --The Calgary Flames defeated the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 in Darryl Sutter's return to Staples Center on Thursday.

Sutter was 225-147-53 in six seasons as coach of the Kings from 2011-17, including helping them win the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2014.
Calgary forward Trevor Lewis was also playing against the Kings for the first time after spending his first 12 NHL seasons with Los Angeles. Lewis played with the Winnipeg Jets in 2020-21.
"It was big to get them the win," Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk said. "They were here for a lot of years and won some championships here and probably have a lot of great memories here, so I'm sure this game feels a lot better and is special to them, but it feels better with the win."

Andrew Mangiapane had a goal and an assist, and Jacob Markstrom made 40 saves for the Flames (14-4-5), who are the first NHL team to win 10 games on the road this season (10-2-2).
"I always found, of all the years that I've played, it's always nice to get on the road early, just early on in the season or early on in the schedule, because it allows you to build that team chemistry and build that camaraderie that I'm talking about, and we've been able to do that so far," Flames forward Milan Lucic said. "And we're just having fun playing the right way."
Alexander Edler scored his 100th NHL goal, and first for the Kings (9-9-4), who are 1-4-3 in their past eight games following a seven-game winning streak. Cal Petersen made 29 saves.
"I think it always comes down to little things, the little details in a game, little mistakes here and there," Edler said. "Whether it's getting the puck behind them, turning the puck over here and there. If you do that too many times, eventually you're going to get punched."
Lucic put Calgary ahead 2-1 with a power-play goal at 16:28 of the first period, beating Petersen five-hole with a wrist shot from the left circle. Four of Lucic's six goals this season have been five-hole.
"It just seems to be working, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it," Lucic said.
Tkachuk extended the lead to 3-1 at 4:54 of the second period with a wrist shot from the right circle.
Edler cut it to 3-2 at 18:11 on a wrist shot from the left circle after receiving a drop pass from Viktor Arvidsson on a rush. It was Edler's first goal since Feb. 25, 2020 (80 games).

Sutter said the Flames had to "hang on" for their sixth win in seven games.
"But I thought we managed the puck pretty good," Sutter said. "Tried to get it as deep as we could. Try to manage their speed. They have a lot of speed on the outside, gain the line speed a lot. It was a problem for us all night, actually."
The Kings took a 1-0 lead at 4:30 of the first period when Alex Iafallo redirected Edler's shot from the left point. Iafallo has scored three goals in the past two games and leads Los Angeles with nine this season.
"They're not going in offensively, so we've got to almost play perfect defensively," Kings coach Todd McLellan said. "We're chasing our tail a little bit."
Mangiapane tied it 1-1 at 11:19 with a one-timer in the slot off a pass from Mikael Backlund on the power play.
It was Mangiapane's NHL-leading 15th goal on the road in 14 games. Among active players, only Patrik Laine of the Columbus Blue Jackets (10 games in 2018-19) and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals (14 games in 2019-20) have also accomplished the feat in 14 or fewer games.
"Power play was the difference in the game," Sutter said. "That second unit scored both those goals. Five-on-five, we had some guys who were not as effective as they should be."
NOTES:Calgary was 2-for-4 on the power play; Los Angeles was 0-for-2. … Mangiapane has scored seven points (six goals, one assist) in his past four road games. … Markstrom is 5-1-1 in his past seven starts. … Arvidsson had two assists in his 400th NHL game. He has six points (two goals, four assists) during a four-game point streak. ... Edler played his first 15 NHL seasons with the Vancouver Canucks before signing with Los Angeles this offseason.