Los Angeles defeated Chicago in overtime, Vegas fell to Anaheim at home

The Los Angeles Kings beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5:4 in overtime. However, the game went against the Kings and they had a lot to do to confirm their position as the favourite. The Vegas Golden Knights surprisingly fell to the Anaheim Ducks in the last game of the regular season.

Los Angeles beat Chicago for the fifth straight time

The Kings entered this game as the clear favorite. After all, they were already assured of the playoffs and the Blackhawks belong to the basement of the NHL. Moreover, Los Angeles managed to beat this team four times in a row.

Chicago dominated the first period with a goal by Lukas Reichel, who beat the home team’s Cam Talbot. It was Reichel’s 5th goal of the season. However, the Kings turned the game around in the second period, scoring 3 goals in 13 minutes, with Arvidsson, Byfield and Moore scoring consecutively.

Los Angeles led 3-1 after 4 minutes of play. However, Chicago made an unprecedented chase in the last period. Within 5 minutes at the beginning of the last period, they also turned the game in their favor with 3 goals. Talbot was beaten by Johnson, Anderson and Donato.

Before the end of the game, however, thanks to an unnecessary suspension of Kurashev for stalling, the Blackhawks offered a power play to the opponent, and they didn’t waste the chance. After just 21 seconds of the power play, Arvidsson shot Soderblom for the second time in the game and the game went into overtime.

There the Kings fully confirmed their role as the favourite. Kempe’s 28th goal and his 75th point of the season were enough to decide the home team’s victory. With this win, the Kings leapfrogged Vegas for 7th place in the Western Conference.

Vegas fell to Anaheim

In the game Vegas Golden Knights vs Anaheim Ducks (1:4) the home team did not confirm the role of the favourite and clearly lost to Anaheim. After the last game of the season, the team fell behind Los Angeles in the Western Conference table.

The game was practically decided in Anaheim’s favour by Vatrano’s hat-trick. The defeat at the end of the regular season for the defending Stanley Cup champions means that in the first round of the playoffs they will face a very strong Dallas Stars team, which has big ambitions in this year’s playoffs.

It will be a repeat of last year’s Western Conference Final, when Vegas eliminated Dallas 4-2. Eichel was the only successful goal scorer for the home team, as he tied the game at 1:1 with a power play goal at the end of the second period.

It was his 31st goal and 68th point of the season, finishing the regular season as the second most productive player in Vegas. Marchessault, the team’s top scorer, had one more point with 42 goals. Either way, Vegas will have a tough time in the playoffs if they continue to perform erratically.

Source: NHL