MAKING IT REIGN

LOS ANGELES - Death, taxes, and Andrew Mangiapane scoring on the road.
Lock it in.
He, like Milan Lucic - and that wicked precision through the five-hole - is Mr. Automatic in the out-of-town barns.

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The Bread Man scored a pivotal first-period goal, then set up another as the Flames rallied from an early, one-goal deficit to clip the L.A. Kings 3-2 at the Staples Center.
It's a good thing that 14 of the first 23 games have come away from the Scotiabank Saddledome, and that the boys have another trey on tap before returning to the friendly confines.
Because Mangiapane, clearly, is loving the road vibe.
It was a tidy effort from the visitors, who were outshot for only the eighth time this year, but had the better of the quality chances until a late push by the homeside.
Milan Lucic and Matthew Tkachuk rounded out the scoring for the Flames, while Jacob Markstrom got the start for the fourth straight game and was excellent, stopping 40 shots for his 10th win of the season.
For only the fifth time in 23 games this year, the Flames were on the receiving end of the game's opening goal.
With the Kings applying pressure and keeping the tired Flames forwards on the ice for upwards of a minute, the puck rimmed the boards and came back up to the point, where former Canuck Alex Edler unloaded a heat-seeking slapper. Planted in front, Alex Iafallo got a piece of it en route, beating Markstrom and scoring his team-leading ninth of the season to give the homeside a 1-0 lead, four-and-a-half minutes in.
But the Flames - as they do - were quick to respond.
A superb individual effort by Johnny Gaudreau drew the game's first penalty and put the NHL's seventh-best powerplay to work.
A minute and 13 seconds later, we were all square.
Milan Lucic's great play in front, separating Kings D man Mikey Anderson from the puck and allowing Mikael Backlund to pick up the loose change and feed a wide-open Mangiapane between the dots.
No. 88 made no mistake, slamming it past the goalie to score his 15th goal on the road this year.

And speaking of things that have caught fire of late …
Lucic took a feed from Mangiapane at the far circle and with a quick flick of the wrist, plunged it five-hole to score his seventh of the season at 16:28.
So, with that, here's another wacky stat for you:
Four of Lucic's seven goals this year have come between the wickets. It has a bit of a cult following now, too, as his Flames teammates refer to the seemingly unstoppable move as the 'Power Five.'

"You know what, when (Mangiapane) made the pass, I looked up and saw the D, so I just went back to it," Lucic said. "It's a high-percentage shot. If you miss, it goes off the pads and it stays alive, you know what I'm trying to say? Other than the ones that go in the glove and all that type of stuff. It just seems to be working and if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
"I'd love to tell you how I set it up, but I don't want the goalies to know what my thought process is, so we'll just leave it at that."
Markstrom wasn't overly busy, but was great when called upon in the opening frame. On a late Kings powerplay, Iafallo drilled a slapshot from the left point and Dustin Brown got his blade on it in front, but Markstrom anticipated the redirect and got across in time to rob the 18-year veteran.
Shots on goal favoured the Flames 10-8 after one.
The Flames opened up a two-goal lead at 4:54 of the second when Tkachuk took a drop pass from Gaudreau, used the defenceman as a screen, and absolutely wired a snapshot past the blocker.

Tkachuk now has three goals in his last four games, and nearly had another past the midway point of the frame when he cut across the blue paint, only to be denied with a splendid pad save.
Edler brought the Kings back within one late in the second when he walked in off the left circle and fired a shot under the glove. It was Edler's first of the season and the 100th of his NHL career after going the entire 2020-21 season without one.
The Flames played a solid third period period, but the frame was highlighted by a show-stopping glove save by Markstrom. Viktor Arvidsson had a great from the high slot, but the Flames' No. 1 keeper peeked around the maze of bodies in front and flashed the leather to keep his team in front.

BY THE NUMBERS:

Shots: CGY 42 - LAK 32
Powerplay: CGY 2-4 - LAK 0-2
Hits: CGY 22 - LAK 25
Faceoffs: CGY 46% - LAK 56%
\Scoring chances: CGY 29 - LAK 32
\High-danger scoring chances: CGY 13 - LAK 11
*Courtesy of Natural Stat Trick (5-on-5)

ONE-TIMERS:

The Flames have now allowed two or fewer goals in nine of their last 10 games. The team's 1.44 Goals Against/Game average (entering tonight) since Nov. 12 is lowest in the NHL. ... Elias Lindholm (who turned 27 today) has 13 points (7G, 6A) with a +14 rating in 14 road games this year. … Darryl Sutter and Trevor Lewis were both acknowledged with a video tribute during the first TV timeout. Both men are two-time Cup winners (2012 and 2014) with the Kings. … With his assist on Mangiapane's first-period goal, Backlund now has 406 points as a member of the Flames, tying him with Lanny McDonald for 18th in franchise history.

THEY SAID IT:

Milan Lucic on the speed the Kings played with:
"I know they're a different team, but they still have some guys that know how to push, know how to win, and are big-game players. They have pride and they're going to do what they can to get themselves back in the game. We were expecting the push and they had it, but we were able to come out and win the game and that's the most important thing."
On the powerplay success:
"You know what? We felt good in practice. We worked on PP - and for us, we just try to keep things simple. Go to the net, pick up loose pucks, find guys off the side of the net and all that type of stuff. It's worked pretty good for our unit so far. We need to chip in when we can like we did tonight.
"They're big (goalsa). Sometimes you need your special teams to produce and the powerplay was able to get two and the penalty kill did their job again tonight. Two big powerplay goals that gives us a lead at the end of the first."
Darryl Sutter on the key to closing things out in the third period:
"Hang on. But I thought we managed the puck pretty good and tried to get it as deep as we could. They have a lot of speed on the outside. They gain the line with a lot of speed a lot and it was a problem for us all night, actually.
"The powerplay was the difference in the game. That second unit scored both those goals. 5-on-5, we had some guys that were not as effective as they should be."

THE LINEUP:

Forwards:
Johnny Gaudreau - Elias Lindholm - Matthew Tkachuk
Blake Coleman - Mikael Backlund - Andrew Mangiapane
Dillon Dube - Sean Monahan - Tyler Pitlick
Milan Lucic - Brad Richardson - Trevor Lewis
Defence:
Oliver Kylington - Chris Tanev
Noah Hanifin - Rasmus Andersson
Nikita Zadorov - Erik Gudbranson
Goaltenders
Jacob Markstrom - Starter
Dan Vladar

UP NEXT:

As American rockers Cage the Elephant sang in their 2008 hit single, there Ain't No Rest for the Wicked. The Flames are right back at it Friday as they make the short drive to Anaheim to face Troy Terry, Trevor Zegras and the Ducks. Puck drop is at 8 p.m. MT and you can catch it live on Sportsnet One/Sportsnet 960 THE FAN. From there, the Flames travel to Vegas to battle the Golden Knights on Sunday, before wrapping up the four-game swing on Tuesday in San Jose.