Kings rally in third period before falling to Mammoth in overtime
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.
