Calgary @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 8, 2019 ) Los Angeles 4, Calgary 3

The Calgary Flames bid to win their third straight game and avenge an early-season setback to the Los Angeles Kings when they visit their Pacific Division rivals on Saturday night. The Flames dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the Kings in Calgary on Oct. 8 to start a 1-2-1 stretch before posting back-to-back victories at home.

Elias Lindholm scored in his third straight game and fifth time in seven outings when he tallied midway into the second period of the Flames' 5-1 victory over Detroit on Thursday. The 24-year-old Swede's night ended in the third after he was slashed by Darren Helms, putting his availability in jeopardy to face the Kings for the second time this season. Los Angeles skated to a 4-3 overtime victory in the first contest on Oct. 8 and erupted for seven goals in a win last Saturday before being shut out twice to run its current losing skid to three games. "I think the offense will come and come back. ... But that's not my concern," Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said following Thursday's 3-0 loss to Buffalo. "My concern is our approach to the game early tonight. The same line, two shifts in a row, made the same mistake. Like, you think you'd learn the first time, so that's a concern of ours."

TV: 10 p.m. ET, ESPN-Plus, CBC Sportsnet 360, Sportsnet1, CITY (Calgary), FS West (Los Angeles)

ABOUT THE FLAMES (4-3-1): Calgary has often been criticized in relying primarily on its top line (Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Lindholm), but the third line of Sam Bennett, Andrew Mangiapane and Derek Ryan made its presence felt as each player scored a goal against the Red Wings. "It was nice to see guys get rewarded who've been working hard all year," captain Mark Giordano said. "... Couple big plays by that one line (as well as Milan Lucic's) line, that sort of got us going in the third and I think we had a lot of momentum after that goal." The burly Lucic notched an assist and registered five hits on Thursday heading into a tilt with his former team.

ABOUT THE KINGS (2-5-0): While McLellan alluded to the line of Ilya Kovalchuk, Michael Amadio and Austin Wagner in his previous assessment, he then singled out the Russian forward for his perceived defensive deficiencies. "You think you're going to (score) 25 and giving up 30, it's not going to work that way," McLellan said of the 36-year-old Kovalchuk, who joined defenseman Drew Doughty in collecting a goal and two assists in the first encounter with Calgary. Doughty, who scored in overtime in that contest, is tied with former captain Dustin Brown for the team lead in goals (three).

OVERTIME

1. Los Angeles has not scored in 135 minutes, 36 seconds since Brown's goal in the third period of Sunday's 5-2 loss versus Vegas.

2. Calgary coach Bill Peters did not provide updates on the health of Lindholm and Mangiapane (undisclosed) on Friday.

3. Kings RW Tyler Toffoli collected a goal and an assist in the first meeting with the Flames.

PREDICTION: Flames 4, Kings 1