Mikael Backlund and Jonathan Huberdeau each scored in the second period, 36 seconds apart, and the Calgary Flames won 3-1 against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday.
Dustin Wolf was close to earning his first career shutout, making 29 saves, and also got his first NHL point with an assist. Kevin Rooney also scored, and Backlund finished with two points.
Trevor Moore scored for the Kings with 2:31 left in the game, while Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper made 25 saves.
Although the Kings had more shots and chances from the start of the game—taking more than 11 minutes to get their first shot on goal—the Flames didn’t score for almost 30 minutes.
Backlund finally got the Flames on the board at 10:42 of the second period after taking advantage of a turnover and firing a shot into the top corner for his fourth goal of the season.
Huberdeau made it 2-0 shortly after the next faceoff. Andrei Kuzmenko sent Huberdeau on a partial breakaway, and Huberdeau managed to score while holding off a check, putting in his sixth goal of the year. Wolf got an assist on the goal.
Moore got the Kings on the scoreboard late in the third period, putting in a shot that was reviewed to confirm it crossed the line, marking his third goal of the season.
Rooney sealed the win for the Flames with an empty-net goal, his first of the year, with 20 seconds remaining.
Wolf showed his skill early, stopping Kevin Fiala on a breakaway in the first period. He also denied Anze Kopitar after the Flames took their 2-0 lead and made a big save on Adrian Kempe early in the third when the Kings had a good scoring chance.
Earlier in the day, the Flames announced that forward Anthony Mantha would be out for the rest of the season due to knee surgery.
