Nick Schmaltz scored his second goal of the game 1:46 into overtime and the Utah Mammoth beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 on Sunday night in Salt Lake City.
Schmaltz entered the zone 2-on-1, kept the puck and beat Darcy Kuemper with a wrist shot.
Lawson Crouse had two goals and an assist for the Mammoth (37-28-6, 80 points), who have won three of four and hold the first wild-card spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Kevin Stenlund had two assists, and Karel Vejmelka made 33 saves.
Quinton Byfield had a goal and an assist for the Kings (28-25-17, 73 points), who have lost three straight and trail the Nashville Predators by two points for the second wild-card spot in the playoffs from the West. Darcy Kuemper made 30 saves.
The Kings’ Artemi Panarin tied it 3-3 at 16:30 of the third period, scoring in his third straight game. He entered the zone on the rush, briefly lost the puck but recovered it and sent a shot on net from a sharp angle along the right boards and it snuck under Vejmelka’s left pad.
Crouse gave Utah a 1-0 lead at 7:04 of the first period. John Marino stole the puck from Sam Helenius, skated behind the goal and fed in front to Crouse, who scored on a quick wrist shot from the low slot.
Alex Laferriere tied the game 1-1 just 36 seconds later when he entered the zone 2-on-1, kept the puck and scored on a snap shot from the right circle.
Crouse put Utah up 2-1 at 9:19 when he got a pass at the bottom of the left circle and chipped it up, off Kuemper and into the top of the net.
Byfield tied it 28 seconds later. Vejmelka made a save on Brandt Clarke’s long shot but couldn’t control the rebound. The goalie poked the puck away, but Byfield got to it and scored from the left circle.
The second period was scoreless until Schmaltz batted in his own rebound at 16:11 after winning a puck battle in front to give the Mammoth a 3-2 lead.
