FINAL – Kings 1, Flames 5 – Ward, Spence, Hiller

The LA Kings saw their regular season come to a close on Thursday evening at Crypto.com Arena, as they fell by a 5-1 final score against the Calgary Flames.

After the first period came and went without a goal, Calgary opened the scoring inside the first three minutes of the second period. After the Kings turned the puck over behind their own net, the Flames capitalized. Forward Nazem Kadri worked his way out from below the goal line, into the low slot and snapped a shot past Kings netminder David Rittich and in for the game’s first goal, his 34th of the season.

In a span of less than five minutes in the third period, Calgary turned a 1-0 lead into a 5-0 lead.

First, forward Sam Morton scored his first career goal in the NHL, as he finished off a nice play off the rush, scoring off an assist from forward Ryan Lomberg to make it 2-0. Just under 90 seconds later, Kadri scored his second goal of the game, increasing the Calgary advantage to 3-0. Stationed in the right-hand circle, Kadri one-timed a feed from forward Dryden Hunt past Rittich and in for his 35th goal of the season and a three-goal lead.

Just shy of one minute after Kadri’s second goal, defenseman Zayne Parekh scored his first career NHL goal, a deflection from the slot, to make it 4-0 Flames. Forward Mikael Backlund capped off the scoring spree for Calgary with a goal off the rush, as he worked his way down the left wing in a 1-on-1 situation and went top shelf and in for his 15th goal of the season and a 5-0 lead for the visitors.

Late in the game, the Kings got on the board via forwad Taylor Ward, who scored in his NHL debut to break the shutout. Skating on the power play, Ward worked his way to the front of the net and got his stick on a rebound off a Jordan Spence point shot, beating Calgary goaltender Dan Vladar to make it a 5-1 game. Ward became the third King to score his first career NHL goal this season, joining Samuel Helenius and Andre Lee.

Hear from Ward, Spence and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s game.

Taylor Ward

Jordan Spence
On the tricky nature of playing in games like this, when playoff seeding is locked in
Yeah, I mean, it is a little tricky. I think we had a lot of adrenaline against Edmonton, we had a good win against Seattle, but we still wanted to win the game and clearly we weren’t good enough. I mean, at the end of the day, we’ve just got to move on and look at Game 1 We’re really excited.

On his excitement, now heading into the postseason on Monday
I think we’re more excited. We’re trying to win the Stanley Cup and I think it’s that we have to refocus on our way of play, on our goals. We’re playing against Edmonton again, so we’re really excited, to be honest with you, to go against them again and have that matchup.

On the opportunity to get a couple days of rest, heading into Game 1
To be honest, I think it’s good. We have a little rest to just get get ready for the playoffs. I mean, maybe there’s some guys that are banged up a little bit, so I think having three days off or something like that is pretty crucial for the guys that are kind of banged up. We’re going to get right back to practices and getting ready, so we’re really excited.

On seeing his former Ontario Reign teammate Taylor Ward score and getting an assist on the play
He had a lot of chances today. We stood up every time he had the chance and it was bound to happen. He played really well today. He was always in the right area, trying to finish his chances. It was pretty cool to have five guys that came from the Reign [on the ice] for him to score that goal, so it was pretty special. We know that he’s been working hard with the Reign, so we were actually really excited for him to get called up and play with us.

Jim Hiller
On seeing Taylor Ward debut tonight and contribute with his first career goal
That was the positive you take out of the night, for sure. We’re all really happy for him. I thought he played really well. He ad other chances, we saw that, he was around the puck. Despite getting the goal, I thought he impressed, his overall game, it was good. Really good job. That was the real bright spot, I thought, from the entire game.

On having five Ontario Reign alums on the ice for Ward’s goal
They were really excited for him. Obviously, everybody’s excited for him, but they had spent countless hours on the busses and all that kind of stuff and everybody trying to reach the pinnacle of the NHL. So, to be out there together and assist on his goal, I know that crew was really, really happy for him.

On the next steps, between tonight’s loss and Game 1 of the playoffs on Monday
I think it’s probably good. We can take a day off and just get away from it all, get the relief that we’re talking about. Then, two good days of practice. I think that it’s important. We’ll have one day that we focus in on some Edmonton stuff and then one day where we just go and then the marathon starts all over again. I don’t mind this, I don’t mind the three days. I think we can use a break.

On why he is disappointed in the loss, despite it not meaning anything in the standings
I like to win. It’s a game, right? I think our players are pissed off too. I think you’re you’re competitive and you want to win. I didn’t see it as meaningless in any way, shape or form. I guess maybe in the standings you could say that, but it’s hard out there when you are not quite……if you come in with the frame of mind that maybe this one’s a little less important, or a little tired, then you don’t have a good game, it’s hard. That’s how good the league is. I’ll take the time to say what a great season for Calgary, because nobody gave them a lot of probability to make the playoffs this year. You see how they played, they beat us three times. We have nothing but respect for their team, their coaches. They worked every night, most nights, the three games that we saw them for sure and I would say most nights. They got the 96 points, played hard consistently. We’d like to think we did the same thing, we got over the bar, we’re happy about that.

On having players like Ward come up and be ready to play immediately, and what that says about Marco Sturm and the Ontario coaching staff
It’s Marco and it’s his staff too, because I know it takes the whole staff for sure, because there’s just so much that goes into it. Not just this year, let’s take it back, they did a great job. The guys that we’ve got, we started this year with, Turc, when Sammy started, Andre Lee started the season, Spenny, Clarkie, so there’s a lot, it’s a long list. All the guys that came up, we bring Malott up for a game, he plays outstanding, he plays and plays and plays and they haven’t seen him since. Wardo comes up, plays extremely well. All those guys do a terrific job, no question. So important for our organization.

Notes –
• Forward Taylor Ward (1-0=1) recorded his first career goal in his NHL debut this evening. Ward is the second alumnus of the University of Nebraska-Omaha to play for the Kings, joining Scott Parse, who recorded 30 points (14-16=30) in 73 games played for LA from 2009-10 through 2011-12.
• Ward is the first Kings skater to score in his first career game since Sean Durzi (1-1=2) on Nov. 24, 2021. Ward joins forwards Andre Lee and Samuel Helenius as the three Kings skaters to have scored their first NHL goal during the 2024-25 campaign.
• Taylor and his father, Dixon Ward (6-2=8, 34GP), become the first father-son duo to each score a goal in Kings history, having already become the first father-son duo to each skate in a game for the Kings.
• Defenseman Brandt Clarke (0-1=1) set-up his former Ontario Reign teammate’s debut marker with his 28th assist for his 33rd point of the season (5-28=33). Clarke finishes the campaign as the Kings’ leading point- producer among defenseman
• Defenseman Jordan Spence (0-1=1) also assisted on Ward’s first career goal and now has assists in back-to- back games to add to his career high in points, finishing the season with 28 (4-24=28).
• Forward Alex Turcotte skated in his 100th career game tonight, becoming the 18th American skater selected in the 2019 NHL Draft to do so. Turcotte also becomes the 11th different American skater selected in the first round of an NHL Draft to skate in 100 games with the Kings.
• Forward Quinton Byfield skated in his 81st game of the campaign, setting a new single-season career high.
• Defenseman Mikey Anderson and forward Warren Foegele each tied their single-season career highs in games
played by respectively skating in their 77th and 82nd game of the season. This season marks Foegele’s second consecutive campaign playing in all 82 games and the third such season of his career overall. Foegele becomes the sixth skater selected in the 2014 NHL Draft to record three of more seasons of 82 games played.

The Kings will not practice tomorrow. The team is scheduled to return to the ice on Saturday, April 19 at 11 AM at Toyota Sports Performance Center.