Los Angeles @ Calgary preview

Last Meeting ( Apr 1, 2019 ) Calgary 7, Los Angeles 2

Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty couldn't help himself after initially saying he was done talking about Calgary Flames forward Matthew Tkachuk. Doughty levied a verbal shot against his familiar foe one day before the Pacific Division rivals take the ice on Tuesday at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta.

"We both know who the better player is, so, if he wants to compliment me first, I'll give him one back," Doughty told the Calgary Sun on Monday, two days after Tkachuk scratched a familiar itch on Hockey Night in Canada. When asked if Tkachuk respects the 2016 Norris Trophy winner, the 21-year-old refused to go that far and labeled Doughty "a good player" who had "a good career." Not willing to leave it there, Tkachuk elected to provide the extra rub by saying he respects the current Norris Trophy winner (Flames captain Mark Giordano). Such has been the case in the back-and-forth battle that has spanned 2 1/2 years since Tkachuk drilled Doughty with a vicious elbow, landing the then-rookie forward a two-game suspension and the simmering disdain of the defenseman.

TV: 9 p.m. ET, FS West (Los Angeles), Sportsnet West (Calgary)

ABOUT THE KINGS (0-1-0): Doughty scored a power-play goal in the third period to give Los Angeles a lead near the midpoint of the third period on Saturday before it dropped a season-opening 6-5 setback to Edmonton. "You can't expect to give up six goals and win the game," captain Anze Kopitar said. "It's not going to happen very often. Obviously scoring five goals, that's encouraging, but at the same time we've got to clean up on the defensive side of things and make sure six was just a case of the first game of the season." Kopitar collected a goal and two assists and Trevor Lewis and Dustin Brown had one of each for the Kings, who owned last season's 30th-ranked offense.

ABOUT THE FLAMES (1-1-0): Johnny Gaudreau collected his second straight multi-point performance to open the season on Saturday by scoring a goal and setting up two others in Calgary's 3-0 victory versus Vancouver. Linemate Sean Monahan netted his second goal in as many games off a nifty feed from Gaudreau, who was stationed behind the goal line. "We're trying to focus on the little things in the game right now, and when we're doing that and playing the right way, that's when we generate the most looks," the 24-year-old Monahan said. "Right now it's going well, but there's still lots of room to improve."

OVERTIME

1. Calgary G David Rittich, who turned aside all 34 shots he faced on Saturday, also had a 21-save performance in a 1-0 win over Los Angeles on Nov. 10.

2. Kings G Jonathan Quick sports a 14-9-5 record with four shutouts and a 2.05 goals-against average in 29 career starts versus the Flames.

3. Giordano enjoyed career-best totals in assists (57) and points (74) last season, although he was held off the scoresheet in all three of his games against Los Angeles.

PREDICTION: Flames 4, Kings 2