quinton byfield

SEATTLE — Quinton Byfield scored twice, Anton Forsberg made 28 saves and the Kings secured a playoff spot with Monday night’s 5-3 win over the Seattle Kraken.

Trevor Moore, Adrian Kempe and Alex Laferriere also scored for the Kings, who won their fifth straight and are playoff-bound for the fifth consecutive season.

With two games left, the Kings are in position for the second Western Conference wild card and fourth in the Pacific Division, just two points behind second-place Edmonton. The Kings’ victory, combined with Nashville’s loss to San José earlier Monday night, wrapped up their playoff spot and eliminated both the Predators and the Sharks.

The Ducks also clinched a playoff berth, their first since 2018, by virtue of Nashville’s loss.

Adam Larsson, Frederick Gaudreau and Bobby McMann scored for Seattle, all in the third period. Nikke Kokko stopped 25 shots in his second career start. Matty Beniers had two assists.

Samuel Helenius and Seattle’s Jacob Melanson dropped the gloves with 7:57 to go in the first, and both earned five-minute majors. Their fight occurred just after the forwards finished serving matching roughing minors for an attempted altercation earlier in the period.

Byfield opened the scoring when a failed pinch by Ryan Lindgren allowed him to take off on a two-on-one rush. He added his 22nd goal later in the first period when a pass jumped Lindgren’s stick at the Kings’ blue line, leading to a breakaway that Byfield converted.

Moore scored on a rebound 7:13 into the second. The Kraken twice got within one goal in the third, but Laferriere’s empty-netter in the closing seconds ended their hopes.

Already eliminated from the playoffs, Seattle lost to the Kings for the first time this season and has not won three straight games since January.

Quinton Byfield scored 2:33 into overtime, Adrian Kempe had two goals and two assists, and the Kings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 7-6 on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.

Byfield finished off Artemi Panarin’s pass for his second goal of the game, securing a crucial win for the Kings, who set an NHL single-season record by playing their 31st game past regulation.

William Nylander missed his shot on a breakaway, leading to a three-on-two rush the other way where Byfield netted his 20th goal of the season.

With the win, the Kings moved into the second wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference before San José and Nashville played each other later Saturday night.

Panarin, Samuel Helenius and Alex Laferriere also scored for the Kings, and Darcy Kuemper made 14 saves.

Matthew Knies had two goals, and John Tavares, Easton Cowan, Steven Lorentz and Nicholas Robertson also scored for the Maple Leafs. Joseph Woll made 33 saves.

The Kings came into the game stressing a good start, having been outscored 5-1 in the first period of their previous three outings, and instead face planted to spot the Maple Leafs a 2-0 lead through 20 minutes.

The Kings bounced back in the second period with three goals and tied the score twice, only for Cowan to capitalize on the power play with 12.5 seconds remaining to put Toronto back up 4-3 after two.

Kempe, Helenius and Laferriere all scored in the third period in a span of 1:36 to give the Kings a 6-4 lead, but Robertson and Knies responded to send Kings into extra hockey yet again.

The Kings have already set an NHL record with 19 losses in overtime or a shootout.

VANCOUVER, Canada — Darcy Kuemper made 19 saves for his third shutout of the season and 39th of his career to lead the Kings to a 4-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night.

Trevor Moore had a goal and an assist for the Kings, and Scott Laughton, Artemi Panarin and Quinton Byfield also scored. Mikey Anderson had a pair of assists.

The victory moved the Kings within one point of the Nashville Predators, who hold the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference playoff race.

One of the best stops by Kuemper, whose last shutout was on Dec. 6 against Chicago, came at the 10:43 mark of the first period when Teddy Blueger launched a blast from the slot and the goalie kicked out his right leg to send the puck soaring with the toe of his skate.

Kevin Lankinen made 34 saves for the Canucks, who lost their fourth straight game. Vancouver has been shut out five times this season, with four coming at home.

The Kings opened the scoring with Laughton’s power-play goal 17:34 into the first period. Stationed at the top of the faceoff circle, Byfield took a shot that hit the skate of Laughton as he jumped in front of the net, deflecting the puck in past Lankinen.

Byfield sealed it with an empty-netter with 2:24 left in the game.

Up next for Kings: vs. Utah at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.

SALT LAKE CITY — Nick Schmaltz scored his second goal of the game at 1:46 of overtime to give the Utah Mammoth a 4-3 victory over the Kings on Sunday night.

Schmaltz carried the puck in on a two-on-one rush with defenseman Mikhail Sergachev on his left and fired a snap shot between goalie Darcy Kuemper‘s legs.

After the Kings controlled play in the three-on-three overtime and nearly ended it on Alex Laferriere’s shot that went off the right post, Kevin Stenlund won a faceoff against Quinton Byfield to set up Schmaltz’s seventh winning goal of the season.

Artemi Panarin tied it for the Kings with 3:30 left in regulation with his 25th goal of the season. His shot from deep on the far right side eluded goalie Karel Vejmelka.

Schmaltz pushed his career-high goals total to 26 and reached 63 points to match his career high set in 2024-25. Lawson Crouse scored twice in the first period and added an assist, and Vejmelka made 33 saves to help Utah end a four-game home losing streak. The Mammoth hold the first wild card in the Western Conference, five points ahead of Nashville.

Byfield had a goal and an assist, and Laferriere also scored for the Kings. Kuemper stopped 30 shots.

The Kings are two points behind Nashville for the final wild-card spot.

Trevor Zegras and Matvei Michkov scored in a shootout to give the Philadelphia Flyers their fourth victory in five games, 4-3 over the Kings on Thursday night.

Noah Cates had a goal and an assist, Travis Konecny and Travis Sanheim also scored, and Samuel Ersson made 22 saves. The Flyers remained six points behind Boston and Detroit for the two Eastern Conference wild-card spots.

On Wednesday night against the Ducks, Cates scored in overtime in the Flyers’ 3-2 victory.

Adrian Kempe and Artemi Panarin failed on their shootout attempts for Los Angeles, though the Kings still moved into the second wild-card in the Western Conference.

Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist for the Kings. Quinton Byfield and Anze Kopitar also scored, and Darcy Kuemper made 17 saves.

Panarin ensured the Kings picked up a point in the standings with a blistering wrist shot on a power play that tied it 3-3 with 9:32 remaining.

The Flyers were without forwards Sean Couturier (upper body), Luke Glendening (lower body) and Denver Barkey (upper body), leaving them to play with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

Up next for the Kings: vs. Buffalo at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday.