{"id":460582,"date":"2025-01-11T10:30:17","date_gmt":"2025-01-11T15:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=460582"},"modified":"2025-01-11T07:37:43","modified_gmt":"2025-01-11T12:37:43","slug":"nhl-predictions-january-11-los-angeles-kings-vs-calgary-flames","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/01\/11\/nhl-predictions-january-11-los-angeles-kings-vs-calgary-flames\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Predictions: January 11 Los Angeles Kings vs Calgary Flames"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to NHL Predictions. Each day,\u00a0<\/span>Last Word on Hockey<\/span><\/em> takes a look at the games that are happening and gives our predictions for each one, breaking down head-to-head matchups and other factors that may play in. Today we\u2019re looking at the Los Angeles Kings<\/a> against the <\/span>Calgary Flames<\/a><\/span>. Be sure to check out more\u00a0<\/span>NHL predictions<\/span>\u00a0every day there\u2019s hockey this 2024-25 season.<\/span><\/p>\n

NHL Predictions<\/span><\/h2>\n

Los Angeles Kings<\/a> (24-10-5) vs Calgary Flames<\/a><\/span> (19-14-7)\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Head-to-Head: Kings 0-1 Flames<\/h4>\n

Time:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a010:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST)<\/span><\/p>\n

TV:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>ESPN+; FDSN; CBC; City; SN<\/span><\/p>\n

The Flames and Kings were supposed to face off on January 8. However, the game was postponed<\/a> due to the devastating fires in Southern California. The teams will instead meet for the second time this season tonight in Calgary. In their first matchup Calgary, was one of the best home-ice teams in the league and played like it. The Flames minimized the Kings high danger chances, and stayed disciplined, allowing just one Kings powerplay.<\/p>\n

They converted their chances and goaltender Dustin Wolf<\/a> did his job leading the Flames to an eventual 3-1 win. Since then a lot has changed. The Flames continue to exceed expectations and are in the middle of the Western Conference Wild Card race. At the same time, the Kings have put together a great stretch of hockey and currently sit firmly in the third spot in the Pacific division. Let’s dive into the latest storylines for both teams and predictions for tonight’s matchup.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Building For Playoffs<\/span><\/h4>\n

Many people expected the Kings to take a step back this season. The Kings moved on from Pierre-Luc Dubois<\/a> during the offseason after paying a high price for him just one year prior. They also let key veterans Matt Roy<\/a> and Viktor Arvidsson<\/a> walk in free agency. They added Tanner Jeannot<\/a> and Joel Edmundson<\/a>, but overall on paper their roster seemed to be weaker and a step back felt inevitable. The Kings, however, seem just as strong if not even better than last season. So what’s been the key to their success?<\/p>\n

It starts with Future Hall of Famer Anze Kopitar, who is leading the team in scoring at 37 years of age. One of the best two-way forwards of the past two decades, Kopitar continues to be one of the best players in the NHL in his 19th season. Behind Kopitar, Los Angeles has one of the most balanced and deep forward groups in the league. Adrian Kempe<\/a> has blossomed into a star of his own and currently leads the Kings with 20 goals. Forwards Warren Foegele<\/a>, Phillip Danault<\/a>, and Kevin Fiala<\/a> are providing solid secondary scoring. The Kings however rely more on their strong defensive game.<\/p>\n

LA is currently first in goals against. The Kings defensive group is getting the job done despite missing their best defenceman Drew Doughty<\/a> to injury most of the year. Los Angeels is also seeing a resurgence of goaltender Darcy Kuemper<\/a> who didn’t look great in the past seasons in Washington but is currently top 5 in both Save Percentage and Goals Against Average. The Kings are a solid team who don’t give opponents anything, and although they don’t have elite scoring, they have enough to capitalize on their chances, giving them a chance to win each and every night.<\/p>\n

Calgary Continues To Defy Odds
\n<\/span><\/h4>\n

The Calgary Flames were supposed to be a bad team this season. Entering year two of a rebuild, many expected them to be heading for the draft lottery. However, the Flames got off to a great start and have continued to surprise doubters nearly halfway through the season. Calgary came into the season with unproven goaltending, a young defence, and a forward group that wouldn’t scare any opponent. This team has found its identity and are winning hockey by outworking their opponents and playing good defensive hockey.<\/p>\n

Calgary is being led up front by a resurgence of veteran Jonathan Huberdeau<\/a> and all-star Nazem Kadri<\/a> while getting great contributions from their two best defencemen MacKenzie Weegar<\/a> and Rasmus Andersson<\/a>. The Flames have also been getting solid goaltending from both Dan Vladar<\/a> and rookie Dustin Wolf<\/a>. Despite Calgary sitting just one point off a playoff spot, the team has some troubling trends that could derail them if not fixed soon.<\/p>\n

The Flames currently rank 29th in goals for and have only managed more than 3 goals five times this season. If the Flames don’t find a way to create more offence, they’re bound to start seeing more losses. The Flames also have the third-worst penalty kill in the league, while also taking the 6th most penalties per game. This combination is a surefire way to derail their season. Calgary has defied the odds to this point of the season, but if they don’t improve in these areas soon, they’ll need a miracle to make the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Kings vs Calgary Flames Prediction<\/span><\/h3>\n

Calgary has a few things going for them despite the fact LA looks like the better hockey team. Firstly, the game is in Calgary and the Flames have been much better at home this season. The Kings also have the 28th-ranked power play in the league which might mean the Flames poor penalty kill won’t be exposed. LA will also be coming off a tough back-to-back as they played in Winnipeg last night.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles comes into this game on a five-game win streak and are playing great hockey as of late. Their league-leading goals-against average up against the Flames abysmal goal-scoring means they likely won’t need much offence and this could be another low-scoring win for Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Kings win 3-2<\/em><\/p>\n

Prop Bets of The Night<\/span><\/h3>\n

We close out NHL predictions with some prop bets. This game should be a low-scoring affair so it’s worth considering the under 5.5 goals total at +195 on BET365.<\/p>\n

For player props we like taking a chance on Yegor Sharangovich as an anytime goal scorer at +360. He’s overdue for a goal, and came close last game hitting two posts.<\/p>\n

Main photo by: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n

Please play responsibly, and check for your local rules and age restrictions, some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Gambling problem? Call\u00a01-800-GAMBLER<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to NHL Predictions. Each day,\u00a0Last Word on Hockey takes a look at the games that are happening and gives our predictions for each one, breaking down head-to-head matchups and other factors that may play in. Today we\u2019re looking at the Los Angeles Kings against the Calgary Flames. Be sure to check out more\u00a0NHL predictions\u00a0every […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5244,"featured_media":447343,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22,4547,24,4548,4524],"tags":[103,6015,6028],"class_list":["post-460582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-flames","category-hockey","category-kings","category-nhl","category-nhl-predictions","tag-calgary-flames","tag-calgary-flames-predictions","tag-los-angeles-kings-predictions"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5244"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460582"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":460620,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460582\/revisions\/460620"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}