Schmaltz's 2nd goal lifts Mammoth past Kings in OT

SALT LAKE CITY -- Nick Schmaltz scored his second goal of the game at 1:46 of overtime for the Utah Mammoth, who recovered to defeat the Los Angeles Kings 4-3 at Delta Center on Sunday.

Schmaltz skated in on a 2-on-1 and elected to shoot from the right circle, where he was able to beat Darcy Kuemper five-hole.

“Everyone wants to push their team into the playoffs,” Schmaltz said. “Guys are fighting for their lives out there. ... It’s a heck of a lot of fun out there.”

Schmaltz's goal came after Artemi Panarin tied it 3-3 for the Kings at 16:30 of the third period. He whiffed on his initial attempt from the right circle, but he quickly regained control and scored from a sharp angle with a soft wrist shot that went under the left pad of Karel Vejmelka.

“Obviously, it’s not what we wanted, but it did not have an affect on us where we were deflated,” Mammoth coach Andre Tourigny said. “We pushed back and we had opportunities after. I think that showed how determined we were in the game.”

Lawson Crouse had two goals and an assist, and Kevin Stenlund had two assists for the Mammoth (37-28-6), who were coming off a 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday but have won three of their past four games. Vejmelka made 33 saves.

Utah holds the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, five points ahead of the Nashville Predators.

“I loved the urgency and I loved the intensity of our game,” Tourigny said. “That’s a heavy team on the other side. It was important for us to be [competitive] in our battles."

Quinton Byfield had a goal and an assist, and Alex Laferriere also scored for the Kings (28-25-17), who have lost three in a row (0-1-2), including 4-1 to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. Kuemper made 30 saves.

Los Angeles is two points behind Nashville for the second wild card.

“I thought it was a real gutsy effort by us. It's probably our best second period of the year,” Kings interim coach D.J. Smith said. “We've had games where it's gone the other way for us and then we get a bit of a bounce and tie it. ... It's unfortunate to lose that point, but we pick up a big point as well and we're still in the fight.”

Crouse opened the scoring at 7:04 of the first period. He gave the Mammoth a 1-0 lead by beating Kuemper from in tight with a one-timer off a pass from John Marino, who stole the puck from Samuel Helenius along the goal line.

“It's easy when you get rewarded when you go to the net, but you have to do it consistently,” Crouse said. “Just because you go one time and you score, it doesn't mean it's going to continue to happen. You've got to just build on repetitions and repetitions and going there, and then eventually good things start to happen. It was a nice night for that.”

Laferriere responded 26 seconds later to tie it 1-1. He scored glove side on Vejmelka with a wrist shot from the right circle on a 3-on-1 rush.

Crouse scored his second goal of the period to make it 2-1 at 9:19. Alex Kerfoot curled out into the right circle and sent a cross-ice pass to Crouse, who scored short side with a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle.

Byfield quickly answered back again to tie it 2-2 at 9:47. Vejmelka couldn't control Brandt Clarke's long-range shot, so he reached out with his stick and poked the rebound into the left circle. However, the puck went right to Byfield, who shot into the net with Vejmelka out of position.

“That's a good team over there and hard to play against,” Byfield said. “I think in the first they weren't as physical, but toward the end of the first I guess they started turning it up. Then this (was a) playoff-style game, two teams trying to make the playoffs, so it was good hockey.”

Schmaltz put the Mammoth back in front 3-2 at 16:11 of the second period, swatting in his own rebound in front. Schmaltz was able to skate into the puck after Brian Dumoulin and Cody Ceci both failed to clear away a rebound at the edge of the crease.

“It's way more fun playing these games than knowing you're going to tee it up at the end of April or whatever it may be,” Schmaltz said. “Super exciting to be in this position that we put ourselves in. We’ve got some work left to do, but we put ourselves in a good spot.”

NOTES: Mammoth defenseman Nate Schmidt did not play in the third period or overtime because of an illness, Tourigny said. ... Utah forward Logan Cooley played in his 200th NHL game. ... Panarin extended his point streak to six games (four goals, five assists).