Arsenii Sergeev made 27 saves, several of the spectacular variety, in his NHL debut to backstop the host Calgary Flames to a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night in the teams’ final game of the regular season.
Morgan Frost, defenseman Zayne Parekh and Joel Farabee scored and defenseman Zach Whitecloud added two assists for the Flames (34-39-9, 77 points), who missed the playoffs for the fourth straight season.
Quinton Byfield got the lone goal for the Kings (35-27-20, 90 points), who captured the second wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference and will play the NHL-best Colorado Avalanche in the first round starting Sunday. Anton Forsberg stopped 18 shots in Los Angeles’ first regulation loss in April.
Parekh broke a 1-1 tie 6:08 into the third period when he ripped a shot past Forsberg from the left circle after controlling the puck and skating in that part of the ice for a few seconds.
Farabee added an empty-net tally with 40 seconds left for his 20th goal.
Byfield tied it at 1-all 6:43 into the second period when he converted a goal-mouth pass from Trevor Moore. Byfield has four goals and five points in his last three games and has scored in six consecutive road contests.
Frost had given Calgary a 1-0 lead 1:22 earlier with a power-play goal when he tipped in a pass from Matvei Gridin.
The Kings had a 10-2 shots advantage in a scoreless first period. The Flames’ Adam Klapka hit the crossbar with less than 30 seconds left in the opening period.
It was the last career regular-season game for Los Angeles captain Anze Kopitar. Before the season he announced that his 20th season would be his last.
The Calgary fans gave him a standing ovation during a play stoppage in the middle of the first period. After the game each member of the Flames lined up to shake Kopitar’s hand.
–Field Level Media
