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Flames debut Cammalleri against Sutter's Kings

Jan 14, 2012 - 5:07 PM (Sports Network) - Saturday night's meeting between the Los Angeles Kings and Calgary Flames will be highlighted by a pair of returns.

For the Flames, they kick off Mike Cammalleri's second stint with the club after acquiring the forward on Thursday.

On the other side, Kings head coach Darryl Sutter returns to the city of Calgary for the first time since resigning as general manager in December of 2010.

Oh, there are also two big points up for grabs as well. The Kings sit tied with the Wild for seventh in the Western Conference with 50 points, three more than the Flames, who have won three straight following a five-game slide.

Calgary extended its winning streak with a 1-0 overtime win over Anaheim on Thursday, and acquired Cammalleri during the game in a deal that also sent Rene Bourque to the Canadiens. Cammalleri began his career with the Kings before spending the 2008-09 season with the Flames, notching 39 goals and 82 points in 81 games. He signed with Montreal the following season, but expressed displeasure with some aspects of the club earlier this week.

While captain Jarome Iginla was sad to see a player like Bourque leave, he knows the addition of Cammalleri will help the Flames.

"I don't know where he's going to play, but he's a great power-play guy," Iginla said "He has a knack to always find ways to get open and his [shot] release is second to none. He's a very competitive guy."

Calgary could have used Cammalleri's offense on Thursday versus the Ducks as it didn't score until Blair Jones put in his own rebound 1:51 into overtime. Miikka Kiprusoff made 23 saves for his third shutout of the season and 43rd of his career as the Flames picked up their eighth straight win at home.

"Most important thing for us was to go out and get done what we needed to tonight and that was to get two points and win the hockey game," Flames head coach Brent Sutter said.

Sutter will square off against his brother Darryl, who coached the Flames for three seasons before stepping down in 2006 to concentrate fully on general manager duties. He then resigned in December of 2010 before taking over the Kings' coaching job nearly a year later.

"I have no feelings one way or another about it," Darryl Sutter told the Kings' website of his return to Calgary. "(Working in Calgary) was a great experience. I worked with great people and I got lots of friends. That's what it's about at the end of the day."

The Kings are 7-1-4 since Sutter took over but are coming off a 5-4 shootout loss to the Stars on Thursday. It marked the first time in 12 games this year that the Kings failed to win when scoring at least three goals (11-0-1).

All-Star Jonathan Quick made 34 saves, but was bested in the third round of the shootout by Dallas' Loui Eriksson. Trevor Lewis then failed on his attempt as Los Angeles went 3-1-2 on a six-game swing.

Anze Kopitar and Jack Johnson each had a goal and two assists, while Dustin Brown and Lewis also scored.

"We didn't get off to a good start," Brown said. "We came back and found a way to get a point. We had an opportunity to get two."

The Kings appeared to have dodged a bullet after Kopitar was forced out of Thursday's game late with an upper-body injury following a hit into the boards. Kopitar missed the rest of the game but is expected to play tonight. He leads the Kings with 27 assists and 40 points while tying Mike Richards for tops on the club with 13 goals.

Los Angeles has won each of its last three games versus the Flames, snapping a 10-game slide in Calgary with a victory there on Feb. 5 of last season.