Backlund leads Flames over Kings

Mikael Backlund had two goals and an assist to lead the Calgary Flames to a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Friday.

Johnny Gaudreau, who also hit three goal posts, and Sean Monahan also scored for the Flames (15-9-2), who sit atop the Pacific Division standings with 32 points, one ahead of the Anaheim Ducks (13-10-5). Matthew Tkachuk and Elias Lindholm finished with two assists each.

Goalie Mike Smith made 13 saves to record his second straight win and improve his record to 7-7-1.

Adrian Kempe scored the lone goal for the Kings (9-16-1), who lost their second straight game after dropping a 3-2 road decision to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.

After giving up an early goal, rookie Kings goalie Calvin Petersen settled in and finished with 33 saves.

Calgary opened the scoring 36 seconds into the first period when Backlund let a harmless-looking shot go from the top of the faceoff circle that beat Petersen over his left pad.

Although the Flames outshot Los Angeles 9-4 in the opening 20 minutes, they weren’t able to get any more pucks past Petersen, who slid across his crease to deny another scoring opportunity by Backlund with 1:24 remaining before the first intermission.

Less than a minute before Backlund’s late opportunity, Smith made a stick save to thwart a chance from the slot by Kings forward Dustin Brown.