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Pacific Division Round Up: Flames stay hot

Posted on by Haley Van Horn

The Calgary Flames continue to sit comfortably in first place, while the Los Angeles Kings have made themselves at home in last place. Both teams played their normal style this week, Calgary winning the majority of their games, while L.A. lost a majority of theirs. Here’s what happened this week across the division.

Anaheim Ducks (16-11-5)

The Anaheim Ducks started their week off against the Chicago Blackhawks. They beat them by two goals with a final score of 4-2. Ondrej Kase, Brandon Montour, Jakob Silfverberg and Daniel Sprong got on the scoreboard. John Gibson made 25 saves between the pipes. The Carolina Hurricanes wrapped up their California roadie in Anaheim and came out with their lone win of the trip. They scored four goals on Gibson. Anaheim at least got one goal, scored by Silfverberg.

On Sunday, they faced the New Jersey Devils. This game was pretty wild from the start. By the end of the first period, six goals in total had been scored. The game was tied up 3-3 with Anaheim goals scored by Brandon Montour, Kiefer Sherwood and Jakob Silfverberg, who is on a three-game scoring streak. The goals did not stop coming. In the third period, Pontus Aberg and Ondrej Kase scored. New Jersey tied it up and the game went into a shootout. Ryan Getzlaf had the winning goal on Cory Schneider. What a game.

The Ducks face the Dallas Stars on Wednesday at 7 PT.

Arizona Coyotes (13-13-2)

The Coyotes kicked off their week with a victory over the Los Angeles Kings and, obviously, we love it. They beat the Kings 2-1. Adin Hill was in net and made 25 saves. Lawson Crouse and Nick Schmaltz provided the offensive support to bring the Coyotes to victory. They faced the Washington Capitals next and lost that one 4-2. A fairly decent effort for a second-to-last team against the reigning Stanley Cup champs. Lawson Crouse had another goal, the second coming from Christian Fischer’s stick. Hill made 25 saves, again.

I would love to remind you the Coyotes’ third loss of the week came at the fins of the San Jose Sharks. Things looked bleak for the Sharks there for a while, but they bounced back and beat Arizona 5-3. The Coyotes saw goals from Brad Richardson, Richard Panik and Nick Schmaltz. Hill made 28 saves on the boys in teal. News broke this weekend that it looks unlikely Antti Raanta will return to the Coyotes’ lineup this season. He received a procedure for a lower-body injury and the results were worse than expected. They also lost Vinnie Hinostroza to injury this week. This isn’t great news for the Desert Dogs.

The Coyotes visit the Boston Bruins on Tuesday at 4 PT.

Calgary Flames (19-10-2)

The Calgary Flames still sit on top of the Pacific Division. They had a successful week, winning three of four games they played. They beat the Columbus Blue Jackets in the most insane game, a 9-6 victory. What in the world? Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan had a pair of goals. Matthew Tkachuk, Elias Lindholm, T.J. Brodie, Austin Czarnik and Noah Hanifin all got on the scoreboard, as well. David Rittich and Mike Smith both saw time between the pipes, allowing three goals each. The Calgary Flames went on to shut out the Minnesota Wild 2-0. The two goals were scored by Elias Lindholm. Mike Smith made 31 saves.

Then came the Nashville Predators. Another successful game for Calgary, they won 5-2. Oliver Kylington, Elias Lindholm, Sean Monahan, Garnet Hathaway and Alan Quine each had a goal. The Calgary lost their only game of the week to the Edmonton Oilers. They fell 1-0. David Rittich made 29 saves, but the Flames couldn’t get on the board.

The Flames play the Philadelphia Flyers at 5:30 PT on Wednesday.

Edmonton Oilers (16-12-2)

The Edmonton Oilers kicked off their week on Monday against the Dallas Stars and did not start on a good note, losing 4-1. Mikko Koskinen was in net for Edmonton and made 21 saves. The lone goal was scored by Jujhar Khaira. Things got better when they were able to pull off a shootout win against the St. Louis Blues. The final score was 3-2, with goals from Oscar Klefborn and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in regulation and the shootout winner scored by Connor McDavid.

Things started to look up for the Oilers when they faced the Minnesota Wild and walked away with 7-2 victory. Connor McDavid, Darnell Nurse, Alex Chiasson, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Zack Kassian had a goal apiece, while Leon Draisaitl scored a pair of goals. Cam Talbot was between the pipes and made 31 saves. They finished the week by beating out the Calgary Flames 1-0. Connor McDavid scored the lone goal and Mikko Kassian made 24 saves.

The Oilers take on the Colorado Avalanche tomorrow at 6 PT.

Los Angeles Kings (11-18-1)

The Los Angeles Kings lost to the Coyotes early in the week. They got one goal passed them, while Jonathan Quick let two into the net. The lone Kings goal was scored by Alec Martinez. They faced off against the New Jersey Devils next and wow, it was rough. They lost 6-3. Jonathan Quick made 29 saves on 34 shots. Kyle Clifford, Adrian Kempe and Brendan Leipsic got on the board, but it wasn’t enough to bring their team to victory.

Their luck turned around when the Vegas Golden Knights game to visit. They beat them 5-1, somehow. Jonathan Quick had a better night, saving 29 pucks on 30 shots. It was a team effort on offense with Derek Forbort, Jeff Carter, Matt Luff, Nikita Scherbak and Nate Thompson all scoring. Nikita Scherbak made his debut with the Kings and had a goal, so that’s promising, I guess. But I don’t know guys, this Kings team confuses me on a deep level.

The Kings see the Detroit Red Wings today at 4:30 PT.

Vancouver Canucks (13-16-3)

The Vancouver Canucks are kind of good again, I think? They played three games this week and only lost one. They started the week off with a 3-2 loss against the Minnesota Wild. Recent acquisition Josh Leivo and Tyler Motte kept their team in the game with goals, but ultimately failed to pull off a win. They went on to beat the Nashville Predators, 5-3. Jacob Markstrom was in net and made 26 saves. Antoine Roussel went goalless, but assisted on three of the five goals. Bo Hovart, Elias Pettersson, Jake Virtanen, Alexander Elder and Loui Eriksson found the back of the net.

They had another big win over the St. Louis Blues. This one was a 6-1 blow out in favor of the Canucks. Brock Boeser recorded a hat trick, while Bo Hovart, Elias Pettersson and even our good friend Nikolay Goldobin had a goal each. The Blues only took 23 shots and Markstrom saved 28 of them. Are the Vancouver Canucks going to rise to the top of the Pacific again? Probably not, but good for them, anyway.

The Canucks visit the Columbus Blue Jackets on 4 PT on Tuesday.

Vegas Golden Knights (16-14-1)

The Vegas Golden Knights faced four teams this week and came out with three wins. They took down the Washington Capitals 5-3 on Tuesday. Nate Schmidt scored two goals. Ryan Reaves, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Cody Eakin also got on the scoreboard. Aside from his goal, Ryan Reaves was probably most recognized for his hit on Tom Wilson. Washington took 26 shots on goal and Marc-Andre Fleury made 23 saves. Next came the Chicago Blackhawks. That one was a 4-3 Golden Knights victory. Reilly Smith, Jonathan Marchessault, Deryk Engelland and Alex Tuch had the goals. Fleury had 32 saves on the night.

When the Golden Knights headed to Los Angeles, things didn’t go as well. They lost 5-1 to one of the worst teams in the NHL right now. Fleury made only 20 saves. Oscar Lindberg scored the lone Vegas goal. They faced the Dallas Stars on Sunday and got their groove back with a 4-2 win. Our old friend Ryan Carpenter netted a goal. William Karlsson, Reilly Smith and Alex Tuch notched goals, as well. Fleury was back on his game, making 22 saves on 24 shots.

The Golden Knights face the New York Islanders on Wednesday at 4 PT.

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