LA Kings take a big early lead and beat Calgary 4-1 to clinch their 3rd straight playoff berth

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Viktor Arvidsson scored two goals and the Los Angeles Kings clinched a playoff berth with a 4-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night.

Kevin Fiala and Akil Thomas also scored in a workmanlike win for the Kings, who will be in the postseason for the third consecutive spring. Los Angeles lost to Edmonton in the first round in both of the previous trips, and a third straight matchup is possible with the Kings currently sitting third in the Pacific Division behind the second-place Oilers.

“(Making the playoffs) was our goal starting training camp, so one step at a time, and I think we did a good job in the regular season to get to this point," Arvidsson said. "“I don’t think seeding matters in the playoffs, if I’m honest. I came in (with) Nashville. We were the last team in, the last game of the season, and we went to the (Stanley Cup) finals. I don’t think it matters. It depends on the group and how you tackle the games moving forward.”

Cam Talbot made 23 saves and captain Anze Kopitar had two assists as the Kings opened a four-game homestand to end the regular season under interim coach Jim Hiller. Los Angeles missed the chance to clinch by losing at Anaheim on Tuesday, but quickly got back into form by beating Calgary for its fourth win in five games.

“I think everybody should be proud of that,” Hiller said about the Kings' playoff berth. "It’s a hard thing to do. And more importantly, it’s exciting because now you get to take the next step. You’ve earned the right to take the next step.”

Kopitar echoed Arvidsson's thoughts about playoff seeding, saying it's not as important as hitting the playoffs in a rhythm. In 2012, Kopitar and the Kings famously went 16-4 in the postseason and became the first No. 8 seed to win the Stanley Cup.

“Obviously it wasn’t an easy game (against Calgary), and with the game we showed in Anaheim, we weren’t very pleased,” Kopitar said. “So tonight was kind of a redemption. I thought for the most part, we did a pretty good job and essentially got the job done.”

Jonathan Huberdeau scored in the third period for the Flames, who have lost nine of 11 as they wrap up a non-playoff season.

Jacob Markstrom stopped 26 shots for the Flames, who beat Los Angeles in Calgary on March 30.

“I don’t think we were quite ready for them tonight,” defenseman Daniil Miromanov said. “They came out hard and they were on top of us, really. We weren’t efficient on our transition game and breakouts. They were on top of our sticks and bodies, and also I feel like we were turning over the puck in the gray zones a lot.”

After Miromanov committed an early penalty by moving the puck with his hand after losing his stick, the Kings scored 26 seconds into the ensuing power play when Fiala wired a wrist shot through traffic for his 28th goal. The Swiss forward's 11th power-play goal was also his 30th point on power plays this season, making him the first Los Angeles player to hit that mark since 2010.

Arvidsson doubled the lead early in the second period, snapping a sharp-angled shot past Markstrom for the third goal of his injury-shortened season. The veteran forward has played in only 15 games, sitting out until mid-February while recovering from back surgery and then missing another month with a lower-body injury.

Thomas scored seven minutes later, expertly batting down a slap shot from the point by Matt Roy and bouncing it past Markstrom for his third goal in the past four games and the first home goal of his career.

Thomas spent most of this season in the AHL, but the Kings' second-round pick from 2018 has made an immediate impact since his NHL debut 10 days ago, perhaps even playing his way into a postseason role. Thomas is the first Kings skater to score three goals within his first five NHL games since Brian Boyle did it in 2008.

Arvidsson added an empty-net goal with 3:14 to play, earning his first multi-goal game since March 26, 2023.

“I don’t think we were competitive enough in the first two periods," Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. “Third period, I thought we started to skate a little bit. We had more zone time than we had the first two periods. But I think a lot of it came down to the competitive side, and not clean or crisp with the puck.”

UP NEXT

Flames: At Anaheim on Friday.

Kings: Host Anaheim on Saturday.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/NHL

Actor Will Ferrell, left, cheers as Calgary Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom watches during the second period of an NHL hockey game between the Los Angeles Kings and the Flames Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson, center, shoots the puck as Calgary Flames defenseman Ilya Solovyov, left, and goaltender Jacob Markstrom defend during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Kings right wing Quinton Byfield, center, gets sandwiched between Calgary Flames defenseman Daniil Miromanov, left, and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar as they battle for the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Kings left wing Kevin Fiala, left, takes the puck as Calgary Flames center Jonathan Huberdeau reaches in during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Los Angeles Kings left wing Kevin Fiala, left, celebrates his goal with defenseman Drew Doughty, right, as Calgary Flames center Kevin Rooney skates away during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, April 11, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

LONDON (AP) — Millions of voters in England cast ballots Thursday in an array of local elections, the last big test before a looming U.K. general election that all indicators suggest will see the Labour Party return to power after 14 years in the wilderness.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was barely able to point to any big success for his Conservative Party, confirming that the electoral coalition that gave the party a big win in the 2019 general election has frayed, if not completely dissolved, in the wake of a series of political dramas and the cost of living crisis.

For Labour leader Keir Starmer, the results provided confirmation of what opinion polls have shown for two years — that Labour has recovered from its 2019 low and is on course to win the election comfortably.

Here are five things we learned:

It's possible.

Though the Conservatives lost around half the 1,000 council seats they held, and suffered a huge defeat in the special parliamentary election in Blackpool South, a coastal resort town in the northwest of England, it looks as though Sunak will not face a revolt just yet from anxious lawmakers in his party.

That's largely because the Conservative candidate in the mayoral contest in Tees Valley in the northeast of England hung on, albeit with a much depressed vote. That helped soothe some concerns despite losses elsewhere.

However, the defeat of the Conservative incumbent mayor in the West Midlands could prompt another bout of jitters among lawmakers increasingly concerned about their ability to hold onto their seats in a general election. Sunak is under pressure from different wings of the party to go further right or move to the center.

Overall, the results show that Sunak hasn't improved the Conservatives’ overall position following the damage caused by the actions of his predecessors, Boris Johnson, who was effectively ousted, and then replaced by Liz Truss, whose tenure lasted only 49 days after her economic policies rocked financial markets.

Probably in the fall.

In the U.K., the date of the general election rests in the hands of the prime minister. It has to take place by January, and Sunak has repeatedly said that his “working assumption” was that it would take place in the second half of 2024.

Though that theoretically could take place as soon as July, most Conservative lawmakers have indicated that the best time would be in the fall, when recent tax cuts may register with voters, inflation has fallen further, and interest rates may have been cut — helping to fuel an economic feelgood factor.

Waiting till the fall may also give the government a chance to cut taxes again in another budget. Conservatives will also be hoping that the controversial plan to send some asylum-seekers to Rwanda will have got off the ground and that there is evidence that it is acting as a deterrent for those seeking to make the dangerous crossing in small boats across the English Channel from France to England.

It looks like it.

In historical terms, Labour has a mountain to climb, if it’s going to form the next government. Its performance at the last general election in 2019 was its worst since 1935. Starmer has tried to bring the party back to the center of U.K. politics after the leadership of veteran left-winger Jeremy Corbyn.

Starmer’s approach has clearly worked if Thursday's results are anything to go by. Labour won control of councils in England that the party hasn’t held for decades, and was successful on a massive swing away from the Conservatives in Blackpool South, which if repeated at the general election would lead to a big majority.

Labour won in areas that voted for Britain’s departure from the European Union in 2016 and where it was crushed by Brexit-backer Johnson, such as Hartlepool in the northeast of England, and Thurrock in southeast England. It also seized control of Rushmoor, a leafy and military-heavy council in the south of England where it had never won, showing that it has a broad base of support.

It’s fair to say that enthusiasm levels are far lower than those that heralded the arrival of Labour's Tony Blair before the 1997 general election.

That may be partly because of the more challenging economic backdrop, but Starmer, formerly a human rights lawyer, lacks the razzmatazz of Blair.

It'll be tough.

One of the contributing factors to Blair’s landslide victory in 1997 came from so-called tactical voting, whereby some voters put aside their political preference and vote for whoever has the best chance of defeating the party they oppose the most. In 1997, that was the Conservatives.

Tactical voting has reemerged and was evident somewhat in Thursday's elections where Conservative candidates lost out to other parties, not just Labour, but also to the centrist Liberal Democrats and also to the Green Party.

The Conservatives may also be outflanked from the right, with Reform U.K. poised to stand candidates across Britain. In Thursday's elections, it was a minimal presence but where the party did stand, it clearly took votes away from Conservative candidates. That was notable in Blackpool South, where the Reform candidate was just shy of usurping the Conservatives into second.

Should Reform, which claims to be tougher on issues such as immigration and on Brexit, do as well in a general election, then it could lead to other parties, notably Labour, defeating Conservatives.

It certainly looks like it.

In some areas with large Muslim populations, such as Blackburn and Oldham in northwest England, Labour candidates appear to have suffered as a result of the leadership’s strongly pro-Israel stance over the conflict in Gaza.

Labour's vote share was clearly impacted, but the effect on its performance in a general election remains unclear, as those seats with a big Muslim population generally have big Labour majorities.

London Mayoral Labour Party candidate Sadiq Khan pats his dog Luna as they pose for the media he arrives to vote in London, Thursday, May 2, 2024. Khan, is seeking re-election, and standing against 12 other candidates for the post of Mayor of London. There are other Mayoral elections in English cities and as well as local council elections. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Britain's Labour leader Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria leave the polling station in his Holborn and St Pancras constituency, after casting their votes in the local and London Mayoral election, in north London, Thursday May 2, 2024. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)

Counting begins at the Blackpool South by-election at Blackpool Sports Centre in Blackpool, England, Thursday, May 2, 2024. The by-election was triggered after the resignation of Scott Benton. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

Tourists on a cycle tour in wet weather plastic macs, cycle past the Houses of Parliament, in London Friday, May 3, 2024. Britain's governing Conservative Party is suffering heavy losses as local election results pour in Friday, piling pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ahead of a U.K. general election in which the main opposition Labour Party appears increasingly likely to return to power after 14 years. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Conservative party candidate Lord Ben Houchen, left, with Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak following his re-election as Tees Valley Mayor in Teesside, England, Friday May 3, 2024. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)

Britain's Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer with newly elected East Midlands mayor Claire Ward during a visit to Forest Town Arena in Mansfield, England, Saturday May 4, 2024. (Jacob King/PA via AP)

Britain's Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer, center, and shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves, celebrate with David Skaith at Northallerton Town Football Club, North Yorkshire, after winning the York and North Yorkshire mayoral election, Friday May 3, 2024. (Owen Humphreys/PA via AP)