Flames defeat Kings in shootout for 4th straight win

CALGARY -- Olli Maatta scored his first goal with the Calgary Flames in a 3-2 shootout win against the Los Angeles Kings at Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday.

The defenseman, who was acquired by Calgary in a trade with the Utah Mammoth on March 4, had five assists in his first nine games with the Flames.

“He’s playing a lot more here, so he’s touching the puck more,” Calgary coach Ryan Huska said of Maatta. “That’s got a big thing to do with it. I think he’s on the ice more. He’s a smart player. He’s been around a long time, so he’s done a good job.”

Zayne Parekh scored the tying goal in the third period for the Flames (30-34-7), who have won a season-high four straight games. Dustin Wolf made 23 saves.

Yegor Sharangovich scored the deciding goal in the fourth round of the shootout when he attempted to make a move to his backhand but instead slid the puck through the legs of Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper.

“I’m sure he fessed up that he didn’t mean to do that,” Huska said. “I think he was trying to pull it to his backhand, but hey, we’ll take it. It’s a big goal.”

Quinton Byfield scored twice for the Kings (28-25-18), who have lost four straight games (0-1-3). Kuemper made 21 saves.

The Kings are three points behind the Nashville Predators for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Nashville won 6-3 against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.

“We threw one away, in my opinion,” Kings interim coach D.J. Smith said. “We’ve got one more game on this trip (at the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday). We need two points, and the moral victories (don’t) help tonight. We wanted two points.”

Byfield gave the Kings a 1-0 lead at 2:35 of the first period. Byfield dragged his back foot to stay onside, took a pass from Joel Armia and skated around Flames defenseman Hunter Brzustewicz. He then made a move to his backhand and tucked a shot through Wolf’s five-hole.

“He’s played really well,” Smith said of Byfield. “He’s been our best player. He’s scoring. Every night he’s dangerous and he continues to be skating. He’s playing on all sides of the puck, so it’s as good as I’ve seen him play.”

Maatta tied it 1-1 at 14:50 of the second period. Situated at the bottom of the left circle, Maatta took a pass from Victor Olofsson and got enough on it to redirect it just inside the post past Kuemper.

“Olli’s been good for us in that way,” Huska said of the defenseman knowing when to jump into the play. “Sometimes his motion on the back end opens lanes for other people, so it’s fine.”

Byfield put the Kings up 2-1 when he took a breakaway pass from Trevor Moore and beat Wolf with a wrist shot over his blocker 17 seconds into the third period.

“Something that we like to focus on is the starts to periods and trying to get on them right away,” said Kings forward Alex Laferriere, who had the secondary assist on the play. “Our line’s been fortunate enough to start a lot of the games, so we’re given that job to get us going in the right direction right away. I was praying when (Byfield) was skating up the ice, I was like, ‘Please just score,’ but yeah, he ripped it right past him.”

Parekh scored a 5-on-3 power-play goal at 13:02 to tie it 2-2. He took a pass from Matt Coronato at the top of the right circle and beat Kuemper with a wrist shot over his blocker.

“It was nice to find one,” said Parekh, who scored his first goal of the season in his 26th game. “I was putting pucks to the net. Eventually you hope it’s going to go in and it did tonight. I like the way I’m playing. I like the way my game’s trending. I’m having fun. We’re winning hockey games, so it’s a lot of fun.”

The Flames had a great chance to score in overtime when Morgan Frost and Joel Farabee broke into the Kings’ zone on a 2-on-0. Frost took a return pass from Farabee and chipped a shot towards the net that hit the left post and bounced wide.

“We let them just walk into the zone a little bit too much,” Kings defenseman Joel Edmundson said. “We didn’t play a bad game. It’s just, we’ve got to find a way to close it out and you can’t give them a 5-on-3.”

NOTES: The Kings played in their franchise-record 28th overtime game this season, surpassing the 27 set in 2003-04. They are 10-18 after regulation this season. … Kings forward Artemi Panarin had his six-game point streak and three-game goal streak end. He had four goals and five assists in his past six games. … The Flames have won seven straight home games against the Kings dating back to Nov. 14, 2022, matching their longest active run against a franchise (Florida Panthers).