In Los Angeles, the Kings punched their ticket to the playoff on Thursday night with a 4-1 win over the visiting Calgary Flames. 
“That was our goal starting training camp, so one step at a time, and I think we did a good job in the regular season to get to this point,” the Kings’ Viktor Arvidsson said.
The Kings are three points clear of the Vegas Golden Knights for third in the Pacific Division.
“Each season, it’s a new season,” Los Angeles interim coach Jim Hiller said. “It goes back to when we took off to Melbourne. So, everybody who’s been involved has been a part of the team reaching the playoffs. I think everybody should be proud of that. It’s a hard thing to do. And more importantly, it’s exciting because now you get to take the next step. You’ve earned the right to take the next step.”
Cam Talbot made 22 saves in the win.
The Kings improved to 42-26-11
Kevin Fiala staked the Kings to a 1-0 lead at 6:48 of the opening stanza, scoring off a power play with a wrister from above the left circle.
Arvidsson scored the first of a double with 54 seconds gone in the middle frame for a 2-0 lead to LA.
“He’s doing a lot of stuff right,” LA’s Anze Kopitar said. “Obviously, he’s mostly known for scoring and putting up points, but even in the small area department, he’s very successful in winning battles, blocking shots and making sure he’s in the right spot for his linemates. So, he’s doing a lot of stuff right for us.”
The Flames dropped to 35-38-5 off their ninth loss in 11 games.
“I don’t think we were quite ready for them tonight,” Calgary’s Daniil Miromanov said. “They came out hard and they were on top of us, really. We weren’t efficient on our transition game and breakouts.”
LA extended the lead to 3-0 on a strike by Akil Thomas at 7:42 of the second, scoring off a a tip of shot from the point.
“It’s great to see the puck go in for anybody,” Hiller said. “Now to get three in five games, I don’t know that that’s going to keep up necessarily, but it’s what he’s doing beyond that. And he’s earning the coaches’ trust. He goes out there, he works, he takes the body, understands the game really well. To sort of see him score goals is really a bonus, but we’ll take them for sure.”
Jonathan Huberdeau was the loner striker for the Fla,mes, his third period goal trimmed the deficit to 3-1 at 8:28 of the third period.
“I don’t think we were competitive enough in the first two periods,” Flames coach Ryan Huska said. “Third period, I thought we started to skate a little bit. We had more zone time than we had the first two periods, but I think a lot of it came down to the competitive side, and not clean or crisp with the puck.”
Arvidsson collected his double at 16:46 when he hit an empty net for the 4-1 final count on the scoreboard.
“I’ve been bringing what I want to bring, maybe a little bit inconsistently from shift to shift, but I think I create chances and work hard, so that’s kind of my game,” Arvidsson said. “I want to keep contributing with that.”
Jacob Markstrom made 26 saves in the loss.
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