Captain Mikael Backlund had a goal and an assist to lead the Calgary Flames to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Monday.

Jonathan Huberdeau with his team-best sixth goal and Kevin Rooney, in an empty net, also scored for Calgary (8-5-3). The Flames have collected points in four consecutive games (2-0-2).

Trevor Moore scored the only goal for Los Angeles (9-5-3), which lost in regulation for only the second time in the last seven games (4-2-1).

Rookie goaltender Dustin Wolf made 29 saves to improve to 5-2-1. He was 2:31 into his first NHL shutout when Moore scored with the goaltender pulled.

Darcy Kuemper, who faced 28 shots, struggled with the loss and fell to 4-2-3.

Takeaways

Kings: Phillip Danault’s forward line between Moore and Kevin Fiala entered the game on a roll with Danault (1-5-6) and Moore (1-5-6) on five-game point streaks, but they were kept off the scoresheet. until 17:29 of the third period, when it was Moore’s shot that, upon video review, was ruled to have crossed the line, reducing the score to 2-1 and creating a dramatic ending .

Flames: Entering Monday, only the San Jose Sharks (-14) had a worse first-period goal differential than Calgary (-9), but the home team had a much better first 20-minute period that night , outscoring Los Angeles 10-7 and generating a bunch of dangerous chances. While the period ended scoreless, the Flames rode that momentum into the second period in which they scored twice, 36 seconds apart, to take the lead.

Key moment

Scoreless midway through the game, Backlund finally broke the ice at 10:42 of the second when an errant Kings pass behind their own net popped into the slot where Backlund pounced on it and, in one motion , fired a rising shot into the far corner. Glove side of Kuemper.

Key statistic

Calgary entered the night 27th shorthanded and, although they were only tested once, that Los Angeles man advantage came with just over two minutes to play, but despite removing the Kings goaltender to go six skaters to four, they were unable to tie the game.

To be continued

Kings: Visit the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday.

Flames: Visit the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published November 11, 2024.