Kings lose finale 3–1

Calgary closed its season with a 3-1 win over Los Angeles on April 16, sending the Kings into the playoffs on a loss and giving rookie goalie Arsenii Sergeev a win in his first National Hockey League start. (nhl.com) Sergeev stopped 27 shots at Scotiabank Saddledome, and defenseman Zayne Parekh scored the go-ahead goal at 8:24 of the third period after cutting in from the left circle. Joel Farabee added an empty-net goal, and Morgan Frost scored Calgary’s first goal on a power play. (nhl.com) Los Angeles answered Frost’s goal quickly when Quinton Byfield scored his 24th of the season 1:47 later, but the Kings could not beat Sergeev again after outshooting Calgary 10-2 in a scoreless first period. Anton Forsberg made 16 saves for Los Angeles. (nhl.com) The loss fixed the Kings in the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot at 90 points. Anaheim’s 5-4 win over Nashville and Edmonton’s 6-1 win over Vancouver removed any path for Los Angeles to climb into the Pacific Division’s top three. (nhl.com) That result set a first-round series against the Colorado Avalanche, who finished first in the Central Division with 119 points. The Kings ended 35-27-20, while Calgary finished 34-39-9 and out of the playoffs. (nhl.com) For Calgary, the finale landed after elimination on April 7 and closed a fourth straight season without a playoff berth. The Flames had entered the night 32-36-9 when they were officially knocked out, and NHL.com pointed to low scoring and midseason roster changes as central reasons. (nhl.com) Parekh’s goal added to a late-season push from one of Calgary’s young defensemen. The 20-year-old had already scored against Los Angeles in a March 24 shootout win and finished this game with his fourth goal of the season. (nhl.com) The Kings entered Thursday on an eight-game point streak at 6-0-2, but the standings around them moved faster than they could. Their regular season is over; the postseason starts with Colorado. (nhl.com)