third period

Ryan Strome scored his 500th career point with a goal against his former team, Morgan Frost had two goals and the Calgary Flames sent the Ducks to their fifth consecutive loss with a 5-3 victory Saturday night.

Joel Farabee and Matvei Gridin had a goal and an assist apiece for the Flames, who extended the Ducks’ late-season spiral by earning their first win over Anaheim in four meetings this season. Devin Cooley made 36 saves.

Leo Carlsson and Mason McTavish scored in the third period, but the Ducks’ comeback from a 4-1 deficit fell short when Frost put his second goal into an empty net with 1:11 to play.

Beckett Sennecke also scored and Ville Husso stopped 15 shots during yet another rough defensive performance by the Ducks.

The Ducks are attempting to end the franchise’s seven-year playoff drought under first-year coach Joel Quenneville, but this skid has endangered the Ducks’ entire playoff candidacy even after they spent the past four weeks leading the mediocre Pacific Division.

The Ducks remained even with first-place Edmonton with 87 points because of the Oilers’ loss to Vegas, which is now just one point behind the division leaders with five games to play.

Strome sneaked behind Anaheim’s leaky defense and scored on a breakaway early in the second period, getting his fifth goal in 15 games since the Ducks traded him to Calgary last month. The veteran forward spent the previous 3½ seasons with the Ducks, but struggled to produce during inconsistent playing time from Quenneville before his departure at the deadline.

Sennecke opened the scoring when he drove the net and muscled home his 23rd goal, most among NHL rookies this season, but Calgary replied with four consecutive goals that prompted the Honda Center crowd to boo its team into the second intermission.

Carlsson got his 27th goal in the third, and McTavish fired home his second goal since January during a power play midway through the period. But Calgary repelled another Ducks power play and wrapped it up with Frost’s empty-netter.

Injuries left Ducks playing without top scorer Cutter Gauthier and defensemen Radko Gudas and Pavel Mintyukov.

Defenseman Tyson Hinds made his NHL debut for the Ducks, whose defensive struggles are the primary source of their late-season woes.

Up next for the Ducks: vs. Nashville at Honda Center on Tuesday night.

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.

Juraj Slafkovsky scored his second goal 49 seconds before he set up captain Nick Suzuki for the tiebreaker with 4:33 to play, leading the Montreal Canadiens’ rally for a 4-3 victory over the Kings on Saturday night.

Jake Evans also scored and Jakub Dobes made 35 saves for the Canadiens, who salvaged the final stop of their three-game California trip with a late surge led by their offensive stars.

Shortly after Slafkovsky tied it on Montreal’s only power play, Cole Caufield forced a turnover that went from Slafkovsky to Suzuki for a one-timer that slipped underneath Darcy Kuemper’s arm.

Montreal had its NHL-leading 20th comeback victory one night after making a late rally — and then blowing a lead — in a wild 6-5 shootout loss to the Ducks.

Alex Laferriere scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period for the Kings, who have lost seven of nine — including two of three under interim head coach D.J. Smith.

Scott Laughton scored in his debut for the Kings, who acquired the center in a trade with Toronto on Friday. Kuemper stopped 19 shots.

Captain Anze Kopitar opened the scoring with his seventh goal late in the first period. The Kings’ 38-year-old captain, who is retiring this spring after 20 seasons with the Kings, ended his 21-game goal drought since Dec. 8.

Slafkovsky put Montreal ahead late in the second when he skated in off the boards. The 21-year-old Slovak’s first goal since January was also his 50th point, making him the first Canadiens player to record three 50-point seasons before turning 22.

The Kings didn’t take a penalty until Trevor Moore went off for slashing with 5:53 to play, but Slafkovsky tied it moments later.

Phillip Danault got a lukewarm reception during his first game in Los Angeles since the Kings traded him back to Montreal in December. Danault had four solid seasons for the Kings, but then played 30 goalless games this fall and reportedly requested an exit.

Up next for the Kings: at Columbus on Monday to open a five-game trip.