(Sports Network) - The Kings opened up a successful road trip with a win over the Flames last weekend. In their return to Los Angeles, theyll get a chance at extending Calgarys road losing streak. The Kings look to keep up the pressure in the Pacific Division and deal the Flames a seventh straight road defeat on Thursday night. The Flames went beyond overtime on Tuesday, but suffered a 2-1 loss to the Sharks. Chris Butler had the lone regulation tally for Calgary and Miikka Kiprusoff made 30 saves, but couldnt get his club a win after being given a second chance. The Sharks appeared to win the game in overtime, but Justin Brauns goal was waved off for goaltender interference even though replays showed that is was the Flames Olli Jokinen who made contact with Kiprusoff. Despite a second straight loss overall, Calgary captain Jarome Iginla would like to see his club repeat Tuesdays effort. "Thats the way it goes some night, but its unfortunate because I thought we were playing hard and creating," said Iginla. "Our [penalty kill] was good. It was a good game. Unfortunately we didnt get two points, but its still an important point and its a big step in the right direction as far as how we want to play. "If we carry that into Thursday, well get some good results playing like that." Calgary played with only 10 forwards for a good portion of Tuesdays game after opting to dress seven defenseman and then losing winger Curtis Glencross to a left leg injury in the second period. He is questionable for tonight. Los Angeles got a goal and an assist each from Mike Richards and Dustin Brown in a 4-1 win at Calgary on Saturday, the Kings fourth victory in a row in this series after losing 14 of 16. After losing the middle contest of the three-game swing in Edmonton, Los Angeles edged out a 3-2 shootout win over the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, with Richards netting the game-winner in the shootout. Dustin Penner and Justin Williams scored in regulation, while Jonathan Quick made 31 saves to give the Kings a 9-1-5 mark over their past 15 games and keep them two points back of the first-place Sharks in the Pacific Division. "Youre only as good as your last game and we certainly needed to come back with a little bit of snarl. We lost our last game in Edmonton and you need to have that mentality that we lost that last game, weve got to come out and push," said Williams, who has three goals and four assists over a five-game point streak. Anze Kopitar also has points in five straight, logging three goals and three assists over that run, while Penner snapped a 17-game goal drought. "Two points here gives us a great road trip, five out of six isnt easy to do coming up here to the northwest," said Quick. "So, were happy with what we did this weekend and were looking forward to getting back home." The Kings have taken three in a row at home versus the Flames and will host them for the first time this season. They catch Calgary in the midst of an 0-4-2 slide on the road since a win at Columbus on Dec. 27. Authentic Bishop Sankey Jersey . The visitors missed a host of good chances to win the game, and were left to rue substitute Ivo Ilicevics strike against the crossbar in the 86th minute, when he only had the goalkeeper to beat. Marqueston Huff Titans Jersey . There are still plenty of other former winners set to participate in the Skills Competition on Saturday at Ottawas Scotiabank Place, including All- Star team captain Zdeno Chara, snipers Daniel Sedin and Evgeni Malkin and speedster Marian Gaborik. http://www.authentictitansshop.com/Eddie-George-Titans-Jersey . England star Jermain Defoe is scoring goals as befitting his monster salary. American international Michael Bradley is pulling the strings in midfield. Zach Mettenberger Blue Jersey . Hes much more intrigued by the possibilities in the Cleveland Cavaliers future after a breakout game by their newest acquisition. Luol Deng hit five 3-pointers while scoring 27 points, Anderson Varejao added 18 points and 18 rebounds, and the Cavaliers beat the spiraling Lakers 120-118 Tuesday night. www.authentictitansshop.com/Bishop-Sankey-Titans-Jersey . Scott had five birdies on the front nine and another on No. 18. He trailed Ian Poulter by one after three rounds. "This has been a long time coming," Scott said.Selling the new tentative agreement to the CFLs players may be a challenge, Hamilton Tiger-Cats union rep Peter Dyakowski said Sunday. The players association and CFL reached a tentative agreement late Saturday night on a new contract. The move averted a potential players strike and, if ratified, would secure the league five years of labour peace. But the CFLPA needed more than four hours Saturday night to sell the deal to its team reps during a conference call. Once news of the tentative agreement broke, many CFL veterans voiced their displeasure on social media. "You hire a bunch of clowns and you are probably going to get a circus," tweeted Calgary Stampeders defensive back Jeff Hecht. "How it works in the 21st century: Unions are dead," Calgary running back Jon Cornish, the CFLs outstanding player last year, said on his official Twitter account. Dyakowski, an offensive lineman with the Ticats, says some of his teammates are definitely unhappy but hed expect most to vote in favour of acceptance. However, he admits other team reps will face a tougher task doing so. "Certainly we had some difficulty here with guys not embracing it, to put it mildly," Dyakowski said. "I think in higher revenue markets its going to be that much harder because they see theres money to be spent. "I could see the boys on the prairies being up in arms about this so their reps have their jobs cut out for them in explaining the benefits of this deal." The union was expected to launch a work stoppage Sunday, threatening the exhibition game Monday night between the Toronto Argonauts and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. That contest will now go ahead. If the agreement is ratified, the regular season will start on time June 26. A date has not been announced for a ratification vote. The expectation is enough players will vote in favour, but one CFL star requesting anonymity isnt so sure. "I wouldnt be shocked if the guys vote against it," he said. Dyakowski, who won the CBC show "Canadas Smartest Person" in 2012, believes the deal is the best the union could secure without going on strike. "Is it what we started out going for? No," he said. "But there is always give and take in negotiations. "Ultimately, what we feel we have is the best deal we can achieve without doing significant damage on both sides. No one wants a work stoppage." However, the anonymous player felt the threat of a strike was the unions prime bargaining chip. "We had to miss pre-season games and give the owners a feeling of empty stadiums, refunding tickets, not selling merchandise, food," he said. "When the regular season approaches, at least they have a taste of it. "For us, our training camp pay doessnt change whether we play one, two or no pre-season games.dddddddddddd" Dyakowski doesnt see it that way. "The prospect of going on strike, it would be a fun adventure for the first couple of days," he said. "But at the end of the day it could just as likely be a two, four or five-month ordeal than just a couple of days of trying to send a wake-up call." The CFL got the players to agree to a $5-million salary cap with nominal $50,000 annual increases. The union initially requested a $6.24-million cap and dropped to $5.2 million before accepting the leagues offer. The CFL also got a major concession from the union on the gross revenue formula that would trigger the renegotiation of the cap or entire collective agreement. The players, who initially wanted the CBA to include revenue sharing, had called for the cap or entire agreement to be renegotiated if league revenues increased by more than $18 million -- excluding the Grey Cup -- in the third year of the deal. The CFL wanted that figure to be $27 million, which the union ultimately agreed to. "We have a lot of guys very upset about losing the revenue-sharing issue," Dyakowski said. "That was near and dear to a lot of guys hearts. "We have five years to work towards it so theres a lot of time for planning and preparation. But I think we have a workable deal, a viable deal, a deal thats good for the teams, a deal thats good for the players and puts money into everyones pockets." Another key bargaining issue for the CFLPA was having independent neurologists on the field for each game. But that wasnt included in the deal. Dyakowski did point to the minimum salary increasing $5,000 to $50,000. And even at $5 million, he said the cap represents a $600,000 increase over 2013. Players will also receive signing bonuses -- $1,500 for rookies and a tiered system for veterans that will average $7,500 each -- and see their average salary boosted to $96,000. During negotiations, the CFL maintained the average player stipend was $82,000 while the CFLPA has contended it was just under $72,000. The tentative deal removes the option year from CFL player contracts, excluding rookies, allowing a veteran to become a free agent sooner and maximize his earning potential. "Its a big win for players freedom that will help younger players earn fairer value earlier in their careers," Dyakowski said. Getting a deal in place is crucial for the CFL, which is entering the first year of a new five-year television agreement with TSN thats reportedly worth an average of $42 million a year. But games had to be played for the league -- and ultimately its teams -- to receive the money. The deal will reportedly net clubs an extra $2.75-million in revenue. ' ' '
