LOS ANGELES — The Kings are headed to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the third straight year after clinching a spot with a 4-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena.
They had the opportunity to seal up a postseason berth against the Ducks on Tuesday but stumbled 3-1, leaving their moment of relief for Game No. 79 of the 82-game campaign. When they won the only Stanley Cups in the franchise’s 57-year history, in 2012 and 2014, they clinched in Games No. 81 and No. 77, respectively. In 2014, they had a similarly businesslike 4-0 win over the Arizona Coyotes to advance beyond the regular season.
The Kings lost to Edmonton in the first round in their past two postseason trips, and a third straight matchup is possible with the Kings currently sitting third in the Pacific Division behind the second-place Oilers.
Viktor Arvidsson doubled his goal total for the season with a pair Thursday as the Kings opened a four-game homestand to end the regular season under interim coach Jim Hiller. Kevin Fiala and Akil Thomas also scored. Captain Anze Kopitar contributed two assists to the cause, and Cam Talbot had 22 saves.
Jonathan Huberdeau had Calgary’s only goal and Jacob Markstrom made 26 saves.
The Kings got the ball rolling 6:48 into the game, by winning an offensive zone draw and summarily cashing in on the game’s first power play. Adrian Kempe’s one-timer from the right circle went wide, where it was collected by Arvidsson. He settled the puck to dish it back to Kempe, who sent it to Kopitar, who found Fiala atop the left circle for a laser he sent through Arvidsson’s formidable screen, his 28th goal of the season.
Though Arvidsson factored significantly into that goal, he did not earn a point. Fifty-four seconds into the second period, he did better than picking up a point when he scored to make it 2-0. Another puck recovery, this time by Trevor Moore, initiated a brief cycle that culminated in Arvidsson ripping a short-side shot from just above the right dot.
At the 7:42 mark, the Kings effectively sewed up the game with yet another goal from Thomas, his third in five games and less than 40 minutes of ice time since his NHL debut on April 1. After his initial shot attempt was blocked, Thomas stayed with the frenetic play and found quiet ice in the high slot, where he deflected Matt Roy’s shot inside the far post.
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In the third period, Kempe nearly heaved a shot into the empty net following a flummoxed exchange between Markstrom and his mates, but defenseman Oliver Kylington prevented a goal with his shoulder.
Calgary instead earned the game’s next goal when the newest Flame, Daniil Miromanov, had his shot redirected home by the highest-paid Calgary player, Huberdeau, as he fended off a check from Jordan Spence at 8:28.
Flames winger Andrei Kuzmeno entered the match on a torrid scoring streak of six games, across which he’d compiled 11 points. That ended Thursday and to compound matters for the sniper, his off-balance pass into the slot was intercepted by Arvidsson and lofted into the empty net with 3:14 to play, clinching the game and a spot in the playoffs.
More to come on this story.
