Captain Mikael Backlund had a goal and assist to lead the Calgary Flames to a gritty 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Monday.
Jonathan Huberdeau with his team-leading sixth goal and Kevin Rooney, into an empty net, also scored for Calgary (8-5-3). The Flames have earned points in four straight games (2-0-2).
Trevor Moore scored the lone goal for Los Angeles (9-5-3), which lost in regulation for just the second time in the last seven (4-2-1).
Rookie netminder Dustin Wolf made 29 stops to improve to 5-2-1. He was 2:31 away from his first NHL shutout when Moore scored with the goalie pulled.
Darcy Kuemper, who faced 28 shots, was saddled with the loss to fall to 4-2-3.
Takeaways
Kings: The forward line of Phillip Danault between Moore and Kevin Fiala entered the game on a roll with Danault (1-5-6) and Moore (1-5-6) on matching five-game point streaks, but they were held off the scoresheet until 17:29 of the third period when it was Moore's shot that, after video review, was ruled to have crossed the line, cutting the score to 2-1 and setting up a dramatic finish.
Flames: Entering Monday, only the San Jose Sharks (minus-14) had a worst first-period goal differential than Calgary (minus-9), 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. While the period ended scoreless, the Flames rode that momentum into the second in which they scored twice, 36 seconds apart, to surge into the lead.
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 and in one motion whipped a rising shot into the far corner on Kuemper's glove side.
Key stat
Calgary entered the night ranked 27th on the penalty kill and while they were only tested once, that one Los Angeles man advantage came with just over two minutes left, but despite the Kings pulling the goalie to go six skaters against four, they were unable to tie the game.
Up next
Kings: Visit the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday.
Flames: Visit the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.
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