CALGARY — The Los Angeles Kings continue to persevere in their quest for a Western Conference playoff spot despite missing eight players to injury.
Lias Andersson scored the deciding goal in the shootout after Victor Arvidsson had the tying goal late in the third period as the Kings earned a 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.
“A gutsy, gutsy win," said Arvidsson, whose 19th goal at 15:38 came just over two minutes after Calgary had taken its first lead of the night. “The team doesn't quit.
"It's just who we are. It's in our DNA. It's a good quality to have this time of year."
Sneaking away from the coverage of Mikael Backlund, Arvidsson got open as he darted towards the net and was on the receiving end of a backhand pass from Phillip Danaut. He then beat Jacob Markstrom with a shot just inside the post.
“I turned around and saw Phil alone behind the net," he said. "I tried to find a spot and he found me right on the tape.”
Los Angeles dominated overtime, outshooting the Flames 6-09 but couldn't solve Markstrom. Four of the shots came on a power play.
Andersson was L.A.'s second player in the shootout and scored by squeezing a shot through Markstrom's pads as he cut in off the boards. That goal would stand as the winner with Cal Petersen denying Mikael Backlund, Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau.
“It was huge to come back. We're running on fumes,” said Kings coach Todd McLellan. “Somebody asked me on our Zoom call today about the heart of our team.
"With these types of wins, the heart just gets bigger and stronger as we go along.”
Alex Iaffalo also scored in regulation for Los Angeles (37-23-10), which moved to within five points of Pacific Division-leading Calgary (40-18-9). But the Flames have three games in hand.
The Kings also move three points ahead of the third-place Edmonton Oilers and are six up on the fourth-place Vegas Golden Knights.
"The West is really tight and we've got to earn every ice there is out there," Arvidsson said. “For sure we wanted to win yesterday against Edmonton. They're right behind us.
"We got one point there and two points here and now we go to Winnipeg and try to finish the trip really well."
Gaudreau and Erik Gudbranson scored for the Flames, who lost consecutive games for the first time since early January.
'We weren't very good tonight, I don't think,” said Gaudreau, who has 31 goals. “They're a desperate team trying to catch us in the standings so we've got to be ready for a little pushback there in the third.”
After a stretch of winning 15-of-17 home games (15-1-1), Calgary has captured just two of its last six (2-2-2) at the Scotiabank Saddledome.
“There's a gradual incline in the state of play and the level of play from the first game of the year played in the NHL to the last one,” Gudbranson said. “It's desperate times for a lot of teams, it's desperate times for us.
"We've got to be the more desperate team every night.”
The same two teams meet again in Los Angeles on Monday night.
After giving up six goals in his last start, Petersen rebounded with a terrific performance, finishing with 26 saves. He improves to 19-11-1. Markstrom made 29 stops to fall to 31-13-8.
Down 1-0 after 40 minutes, Calgary tied it 1:36 into the third on Gaudreau's power-play goal from Gaudreau, which capped off an eventful sequence for the left winger.
He was crunched into the boards from behind by Kings defenceman Sean Durzi, drawing the cross-checking penalty. Then on the power play, Gaudreau turned the puck over to Alex Iafallo, only to chase him down and steal it back again. Leading Calgary back up ice again, Gaudreau eventually converted a Noah Hanifin rebound.
The Flames surged ahead at 13:33 on a rare goal generated from the fourth line. Milan Lucic and Sean Monahan combined to get the puck back to Gudbranson whose point shot through a crowd eluded Petersen.
The only goal through two periods was Iafallo that came on a quick transition by the Kings after Gaudreau failed to get the puck in deep before a Calgary line change. It allowed Los Angeles to dart up the ice on an odd-man rush with Adrian Kempe finding Iafallo alone in front.
“I think it was Kopitar who knocked it out of mid-air, and then they turn around and go down to the other end," said Gaudreau. "I should have stayed on the ice obviously.
"Tried to backcheck. A mistake on my end.”
Notes: Tkachuk's five-game point streak (four goals, eight assists) was snapped. Flames lost Oliver Kylington early in the third when he went heavily into the boards after a hit from Rasmus Kupari... Seventy of Gaudreau's 91 points have come at even-strength, which leads the NHL.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 31, 2022.
Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press
