CALGARY, Alberta — The Kings’ three-game trek through Western Canada is off to a rough start.
Yegor Sharangovich scored the go-ahead goal at 12:09 of the third period as the Calgary Flames topped the Kings, 4-2, on Tuesday night for their fourth straight win.
Andrew Mangiapane, Blake Coleman and Mikael Backlund (empty net) also scored for Calgary, while Chris Tanev chipped in a pair of assists. The Flames remain five points back of Nashville for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Jacob Markstrom had 21 stops and an assist.
Phillip Danault and Kevin Fiala provided the offense for the Kings, who have dropped the first two games of their road trip. Making his first start in four games, former Flame Cam Talbot had 33 saves for the Kings.
“They came out hard, hungry. They were better than us the first couple of minutes and it carried on to the game,” Kings right winger Quinton Byfield said. “It’s tough when you start behind like that, but those are just games we’ve got to win.”
The Kings are tied in points with Nashville, but they hold down the Western Conference’s first wild-card spot at the moment because they have two games in hand.
The Kings got a power play with less than four minutes to go and then pulled Talbot halfway through to make it a two-man advantage, but failed to tie it.
“At the end, we had a chance. Same thing against Edmonton, we had a 5-on-3,” Danault said. “We have to find a way to put it in. It’s always going to be tight like this until the end now so those little details could be the difference.”
On the go-ahead goal, Sharangovich took a pass from Dryden Hunt, strode over the Kings’ blue line and ripped a shot inside the goalpost on Talbot’s glove side. The 25-year-old hadn’t scored a goal in 11 games before Tuesday.
“It’s been a long time that I can’t score, but our line always has enough chances to score and finally we find a way,” Sharangovich said.
Sharangovich was shifted from right wing to center after Elias Lindholm was dealt to the Vancouver Canucks during the NHL All-Star break.
“It’s a little bit different role because you’re really responsible for the D-zone,” Sharangovich said. “It’s taken a little bit of time, but in the offensive zone doesn’t change. We’ve had a lot of chances and finally the puck has gone in.”
Flames head coach Ryan Huska says Sharangovich has adjusted nicely.
“He’s done a really good job for us since we’ve asked him to play in the middle of the ice,” Huska said. “He’s been responsible defensively, and that line is developing a little bit of chemistry. … To see him score tonight the way he did was a big moment for our team, for sure, but I know it will allow him to sleep a little better tonight as well.”
Scoreless through the first half of the game, the Kings opened the scoring at 12:08 of the second period when Danault picked the top corner with a slap shot from 40 feet out.
The lead was short-lived, however, with Calgary responding 48 seconds later.
Noah Hanifin’s long pass found Mangiapane behind the Kings’ defense and on the breakaway, he fooled Talbot with a backhand-to-forehand deke that left him with an empty net to slam his 12th goal of the season into.
Continuing the sudden rapid-fire scoring barrage, 56 seconds after that, the Flames took their first lead with Coleman knocking in a Jonathan Huberdeau rebound at 13:52.
Fiala evened the score with 1:06 remaining in the middle frame, backhanding in a rebound after Markstrom could not control Anze Kopitar’s initial shot.
With the Kings playing their second game in as many nights, Calgary started strong. The Flames outshot the Kings 10-3 in the opening 20 minutes, but the game remained scoreless thanks to a Kings penalty kill that bent, but didn’t break.
Mangiapane played in career game No. 400. Drafted by Calgary in the sixth round (166th overall) of the 2015 draft, he’s one of only 13 active players drafted in the sixth round who has reached 400 games. He’s also the first from the sixth round of his draft class to reach that mark.
With his assist on Mangiapane’s goal, Markstrom has five assists on the season. No other NHL goalie has more than two.
KEMPE OUT
The Kings were without right-winger Adrian Kempe, who returned to Los Angeles for further examination after getting injured during Monday’s loss in Edmonton. In adjusting his lines, Coach Jim Hiller moved Pierre-Luc Dubois and Byfield up to the top line to flank Kopitar, while rookie left winger Alex Laferriere was dropped down to the third line.
UP NEXT
The Kings finish their three-game road trip at Vancouver on Thursday at 7 p.m.