calgary flames

The Kings were playing for history Thursday and the Calgary Flames were playing for pride. Pride won, with Nazem Kadri scoring twice and and Sam Morton, Zayne Parekh and Mikael Backlund also scoring to give the Flames a 5-1 win in the final game of the NHL regular season.

Taylor Ward, making his NHL debut, got the only Kings goal late in the third period, long after the outcome had been decided. The goals by Morton and Parekh also came in their first NHL games.

The loss, the Kings’ first in five games, left them with 48 wins and 105 points for the season, matching the team record in both categories.

Still, the Kings will enter their first-round playoff series with the Edmonton Oilers on Monday as the hottest team in the Western Conference, having won eight of their last 10. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series will be played in Los Angeles on Wednesday before the series moves to Edmonton for Games 3 and 4.

The Flames, meanwhile, will miss the playoffs for the third season in a row after being eliminated earlier in the week in a shootout loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. But they didn’t go quietly against the Kings, taking the lead to stay on Kadri’s first goal two minutes and 15 seconds into the second period.

Morton doubled the lead 6:05 into the third period, opening the floodgates with Kadri scoring his team-leading 35th goal less than a minute later, followed by goals from Parekh and Backlund three minutes apart.

Ward got his goal with just more than six minutes to play. It marked the first time in five games the Kings failed to score at least five goals.

The Kings rested leading scorer Adrian Kempe and regular goaltender Darcy Kuemper as well as center Phillip Danault and winger Trevor Moore, which allowed Ward to become the first son of an NHL player to play for the team. Ward’s father Dixon, also a winger, appeared in 537 NHL games for six teams, including the Kings, between 1992-2003.

Thursday’s game was supposed to be played Jan. 8 but was postponed because of wildfires in Southern California. The Kings used the rescheduled date to honor first responders.

CALGARY, Canada — Matt Coronato scored a natural hat trick, Dustin Wolf made 30 saves and the Calgary Flames beat the Ducks 4-1 on Thursday night.

Coronato gave Calgary a 2-1 lead with 44 seconds left in the second period on a wrist shot from the high slot. He doubled the lead with 3:50 left, scoring off goalie John Gibson’s turnover, and completed the hat trick with an empty-netter with 2:23 to go.

Frank Vatrano opened the scoring for the Ducks midway through the first period. Adam Klapka tied it 15 second into the second.

Gibson stopped 26 shots.

Takeaways

Ducks: Anaheim was 0 for four on the power play.

Flames: Amid trade speculation, winger Andrei Kuzmenko was scratched from Calgary’s game lineup.

Key moment: Coronato scored off Gibson’s clearing gaffe for the late 3-1 lead.

Key stat: Calgary is 23-3-4 when leading or tied after two periods.

Up next: The Ducks host Montreal on Sunday. The Flames end a three-game homestand Saturday night against Detroit.

CALGARY, Canada —  Captain Mikael Backlund had a goal and assist to lead the Calgary Flames to a gritty 3-1 victory over the Kings on Monday.

Jonathan Huberdeau with his team-leading sixth goal and Kevin Rooney, into an empty net, also scored for Calgary.

Trevor Moore scored the lone goal for the Kings, who lost in regulation for just the second time in the last seven.

Rookie netminder Dustin Wolf made 28 saves. He was 2:31 away from his first NHL shutout when Moore scored with the goalie pulled.

Darcy Kuemper, who faced 27 shots, was saddled with the loss.

Takeaways

Kings: The forward line of Phillip Danault between Moore and Kevin Fiala entered the game on a roll with Danault and Moore on matching five-game point streaks. They were held off the scoresheet until the end the third period when it was Moore’s shot that, after video review, was ruled to have crossed the line

Flames: Entering Monday, only the San Jose Sharks had a worst first-period goal differential than Calgary, but the home side turned in a much better opening 20 minutes on this night, outshooting Los Angeles 10-7 and generating a bunch of dangerous chances.

Key moment: Scoreless halfway through the game, Backlund finally broke the ice at 10:42 of the second when an errant Kings pass behind their own net popped out into the slot where Backlund pounced on it.

Key stat: Calgary entered the night ranked 27th on the penalty kill and while they were tested only once, that one Los Angeles man advantage came with just over two minutes left. Despite the Kings pulling the goalie to go six skaters against four, they were unable to tie the game.

Up next: The Kings wrap a two-game road trip at Colorado on Wednesday. The Flames visit Vancouver on Tuesday.