In Calgary, Lias Andersson scored the only goal in the skills competition on Thursday night to give the Los Angeles Kings a 3-2 win over the Flames.
LA’s Viktor Arvidsson scored late in the third period to tie the game, 2-2, and force extra time and the skills portion of the evening’s affairs.
“It’s tight. The West is really tight, and we’ve got to earn every [bit of] ice there is out there,” Arvidsson said. “It’s fun to play.”
The Kings improved to 37-23-10, and are now just five points back of the Flames for the top spot in the Pacific Division.
Cal Petersen made 26 saves in the LA win.
Johnny Gaudreau and Erik Gudbranson scored for the Flames.
“I think we were kind of slow tonight, but we found a way to get a point and that was huge,” Gaudreau said. “It wasn’t one of our best games, everyone in our locker room knows that. We come to work tomorrow ready to get better.”
Calgary dropped to 40-18-9.
“We’ve put a lot of work in this season to get our game to a place where we trust it and build that foundation,” Gudbranson said. “We expect that out of ourselves every night and [it is a] desperate time of year. Teams are trying to get into the playoffs and teams that seem to be out of it or are playing loose and they’re playing good hockey. So, every single night’s a really tough night that we have to prepare heavily for.”
Alex Iafallo also scored for the Kings.
“Happy for him because he’s had a lot of chances,” Kings coach Todd McLellan said. “You can see him squeezing his stick a little bit, but in the meantime, he’s paid attention to the other details in his game. Often when top-end players go dry for a while they begin to cheat and it doesn’t go well for them. ‘Al’ isn’t that type of player. If I’m him now, I’m shooting every puck I get my hands on because maybe he’ll turn hot.”
Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves in the Flames loss.
“They’re a desperate team trying to catch us in the standings,” Gaudreau said. “We’ve got to be ready for their little pushback there in the third and try to win it in overtime.”
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