Darryl Sutter returns to face the Kings with his much-improved Flames

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The terse quality conferences, biting sarcasm and consternated countenances of Calgary Coach Darryl Sutter volition look ohio truthful acquainted to the Kings erstwhile they big the Flames connected Thursday.

So volition the Flames’ newfound winning ways.

Sutter coached the Kings from 2011 to 2017, a agelong that included the franchise’s lone Stanley Cups, successful 2012 and 2014. Since Sutter was replaced arsenic caput coach, the Kings person made the playoffs conscionable erstwhile and person not won a azygous postseason game.

Last season, the autochthonal of Viking, Alberta, returned to the franchise nearest his hometown for a 2nd stint successful Calgary. He coached the Flames from 2002 to 2006, including reaching Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final successful 2004, and was the team’s wide manager from 2006 to 2010.

This year, Calgary has gone from a sub-.500 points percent past play to starring the Pacific Division.

The Flames person excelled defensively, allowing the fewest goals successful the NHL and jockeying astir the apical positions connected the punishment termination percent and shots allowed leaderboards arsenic well. Offensively, they fertile seventh league-wide successful power-play conversion complaint and five-on-five goals scored. Jacob Markstrom and Dan Vladar person solidified a concern successful nett that had been mostly fishy since Mikka Kiprusoff’s status successful 2013.

“Darryl’s fingerprints are each implicit that team. They cheque truly hard. Their goaltending has been outstanding, I deliberation they’ve got six oregon 7 shutouts,” Kings manager Todd McLellan said. “From a statistical standpoint, they’re a bully antiaircraft hockey club.”

Thursday’s gathering besides signifies different showdown betwixt Kings defenseman Drew Doughty and Calgary winger Matthew Tkachuk. Doughty played his archetypal crippled since Oct. 22 connected Tuesday, registering an assistance and 3 shots connected extremity and showing fewer signs of rust aft recovering from a genu injury.

Asked to measure the authorities of the squad arsenic helium moved from a pressbox perch to crystal level, Doughty said the Kings needed to people much consistently and enactment teams distant erstwhile they had the opportunity.

“I mean, it’s been the LA Kings communicative since I got here,” said Doughty, who has spent each 14 seasons of his vocation with the Kings.

The Kings mislaid six consecutive games, won 7 successful a enactment and past dropped 5 consecutive contests earlier their 2 astir caller games, a triumph implicit Ottawa and a shootout nonaccomplishment to the Ducks.

“We decidedly request to halt with this blistery streak, not-good streak. We request to enactment a drawstring of wins unneurotic and lone suffer 1 each 5 oregon six if we can,” Doughty said.

Doughty was spared immoderate interrogation astir his tumultuous past with Tkachuk, who has besides been quiescent connected the topic, a borderline occurrence fixed the foes’ on-ice level of chatter and chirps. Tkachuk did archer Sportsnet’s Salim Valji earlier successful the week that his member Brady was “not wrong” astir his scathing appraisal of Kings winger Brendan Lemieux’s crippled and quality aft Lemieux spot the Ottawa forward, starring to a five-game suspension.

Though they are again divisional foes with pre-pandemic alignment having been restored, this is the Kings’ archetypal look astatine Calgary this season. Wingers Johnny Gaudreau and Elias Lindholm person topped the Flames successful scoring, each surpassing a point-per-game pace.

Along with Sutter, the Flames diagnostic 3 erstwhile Kings forwards: Trevor Lewis, Brad Richardson and Milan Lucic.

On defense, important departures successful caller years – Dougie Hamilton successful 2018, TJ Brodie successful 2020 and erstwhile skipper Mark Giordano successful past summer’s enlargement draught –– bash not look to person hindered the Flames. Blue-liners Oscar Kylington and Rasmus Anderson person some stepped up their accumulation considerably this season.