After posting a rare road blemish with a 4-2 loss at Los Angeles, the Vegas Golden Knights will make the short drive down Interstate 5 to Anaheim, Calif., to play the Ducks on Wednesday night in the second game of a back-to-back.

Vegas had a four-game road winning streak snapped with the loss to the Kings, just the third regulation road loss in 18 games (14-3-1) for the Golden Knights this season. Los Angeles closed to within three points of Vegas, the Western Conference leader with 49 points.

Against the Kings, the Golden Knights took a 2-1 lead midway through the second period on defenseman Brayden McNabb’s first goal of the season off a nifty between-the-legs setup by Reilly Smith. But Los Angeles tied it a little over three minutes later on a Phillip Danault goal.

Alex Iafallo scored what proved to be the game-winner midway through the third period on an odd-man rush after Mark Stone lost an edge in the neutral zone.

“We did a lot of things well,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said. “Certainly played well enough to win. … Guy blew a wheel and we gave up a 3-on-2, and they were able to capitalize and we (didn’t), and that’s the story of the third period.”

This is the third back-to-back of the season for the Golden Knights. Vegas swept the first one on Oct. 24-25 with a 3-1 home win over Toronto followed by a 4-2 victory at San Jose, but they were swept in the second one at home on Thanksgiving weekend, losing to both Seattle (4-2 score) and Vancouver (5-1).

“We’ll regroup in the morning,” Cassidy said. “We’ve had time off. I think your first game you’re playing a bit on adrenaline. You’re excited to get back out there. Now we’ll be back at it (Wednesday). How easy is it to fill the tank after tonight? Hopefully, guys don’t let this one bother them very long.

“Like I said, we were right there. Didn’t work out for us. Give L.A. credit. Let’s get ready for Anaheim.”

Vegas, already without top-six defensemen Shea Theodore (leg injury) and Zach Whitecloud (lower body), played the final two periods without Alec Martinez. The defenseman, who leads the NHL by a wide margin in blocked shots with 132, took an Iafallo slap shot off his right ankle in the opening period and left the game.

“Blocked a shot, never returned,” Cassidy said. “We’ll have a better idea where he’s at (Wednesday).”

Anaheim, which will play the third game in a 10-game homestand, have been idle since a 3-2 overtime loss to Calgary on Friday.

The Ducks, who have dropped three in a row and occupy the basement in the Pacific Division, nabbed a point against the Flames despite being outshot 45-23, including an eye-popping 23-1 in the second period.

Rookie goaltender Lukas Dostal finished with 42 saves, his second game in six season starts with 40 or more saves.

“Our guys need a break,” Anaheim coach Dallas Eakins said after Friday’s game, referring to the holiday hiatus.

The Ducks practiced Tuesday, and veteran goaltender John Gibson, out since suffering a lower-body injury against Toronto on Dec. 13, was a full participant.

“We’re going to see how he (Gibson) reacts overnight and make the call in the morning,” Eakins told The Orange County Register when asked about Gibson’s status for the Vegas game. “The fact that he got through practice is very positive.”

This is the second meeting between the two teams this season. The Knights, behind 29 saves by Logan Thompson, won the first one 4-0 on Oct. 28 on their home ice to improve to 21-4-0 all-time against the Ducks.

–Field Level Media

The NHL’s schedule-makers have provided the Seattle Kraken with some holiday help.

Wednesday night’s matchup with Calgary will be the Kraken’s fourth straight home game against a team playing the second half of a back-to-back, after the Flames hosted the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.

Despite putting 47 shots on net, the Flames lost 2-1 as Connor McDavid scored the go-ahead goal 7:28 into the third period. It was McDavid’s league-leading 31st goal of the season.

Mikael Backlund scored, and goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 20 saves for the Flames, who lost in regulation for the first time in five games (3-1-1).

Backlund had a chance to send the game to overtime, but his attempt hit the post with four seconds remaining.

“It’s tough,” Backlund said. “It would have been a great feeling to score there, but it’s almost worse hitting the posts than them making saves. So, just inches away from it being tied. A lot of posts and bars right now.

“I don’t think it’s bad luck or anything; it’s just the way it is right now. We’ve got to keep shooting, create chances. We’ve got to score more than one to win.”

Markstrom took a big-picture approach.

“We had a great road trip. We got seven out of eight points (prior to the holiday break),” he said. “You carry that with you for sure. We had a nice skate this morning and a nice few days’ break with the family, and everybody’s excited to get back in there.

“I thought it showed (Tuesday), but it’s still a loss. Our division here is tight, and we can’t lose these tight games.”

Seattle’s previous three opponents at home had played in Vancouver the previous night. The Kraken are 2-1-0 at home during that stretch, losing 4-2 to Montreal and then defeating Winnipeg 3-2 and St. Louis 5-2.

The Kraken have been idle since a 6-5 shootout loss last Thursday at Vancouver. The Canucks got the tying goal from Elias Pettersson with 1:20 remaining in regulation with their goalie pulled for an extra attacker. Pettersson had two goals, three assists and scored the winner in the shootout.

Daniel Sprong tallied twice, and Oliver Bjorkstrand had a goal and an assist for the Kraken, who got goals from all four of their forward lines and never trailed until the shootout.

“They had a push and they capitalized on their chances,” Sprong said. “Sometimes, that’s the way hockey goes, but of course it’s not the way we want to end going into the break.

“I think the crowd got into it, they started to push and we didn’t find an answer. They kept coming. If you keep coming, you’re going to get chances, and they buried them.”

It was especially disheartening for the Kraken as they built a two-goal lead in seeking their first victory against Vancouver in six all-time meetings.

“We’re here to win a hockey game, and we didn’t do that, so that’s disappointing,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “We’ll look at not only line combinations, but exactly what we did in the third period, and there’s a couple of things we have to do better. We have to do better when we’ve got a two-goal lead. That’s a game we should be able to close out.”

This will be the second meeting of the season between Seattle and Calgary. The visiting Kraken won 5-4 on Nov. 1, rallying from a two-goal deficit before rookie Matty Beniers netted his first career winner with 6:34 remaining.

–Field Level Media

Maybe the Pittsburgh Penguins enjoyed some holiday sweets during the NHL’s mandated break, but they are in a sour mood going into their Wednesday game against the visiting Detroit Red Wings.

That’s because the Penguins came out of the break with a 5-1 road loss against the New York Islanders on Tuesday.

“We didn’t have our best effort,” Pittsburgh center Jeff Carter said. “The compete level could have been a lot higher from everybody.

“It’s just a mentality. We’ve got to be ready to go. … That’s it. You’ve just got to be ready to go from the puck drop.”

Pittsburgh is 1-2-1 since a seven-game winning streak.

Against the Islanders, Pittsburgh’s streak of 10 straight games with at least one power-play goal ended. The Penguins got outshot 42-21. They gave up a goal at 1:03 in the first period and 50 seconds in the second. The result matched their largest margin of defeat this season, as they fell to Vancouver by the same score on Oct. 28.

Pittsburgh coach Mike Sullivan resorted to shuffling line combinations during the second half of the game.

“It might have been our worst game of the year,” Sullivan said. When asked why his players performed at that level, he snapped, “I have no answer for you.”

The Penguins can look for some answers in a quick turnaround.

The Red Wings, meanwhile, might have to tap into their memory banks to recall their most recent game — even though it would be a pleasant memory.

Detroit was just beginning practice Thursday when word came that a game scheduled for Friday at Ottawa had been postponed because of nasty weather.

That means the Red Wings had their Christmas break extended, and they will have had a week off from games when they take the ice in Pittsburgh.

Not that they are complaining.

“Since training camp, it’s been pretty much a sprint for the past three or four months,” Detroit forward Andrew Copp said. “These built-in breaks, you need to be able to get away and reset the body.”

Unlike Pittsburgh, the Red Wings come into Wednesday’s game off a win, even if it was a week earlier.

Last Wednesday, Detroit downed the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-4. That ended a six-game slide (0-4-2), a losing streak that might not have been as demoralizing as it could have been, partly because of the absences of forwards Jakub Vrana, Robby Fabbri and Tyler Bertuzzi and partly because of the players’ demeanor.

“We went through a stretch where we were probably undermanned. Maybe we weren’t even fielding a roster technically good enough to win,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said after the skid ended. “There are times we had holes in our game that were self-inflicted, and there are times we’ve had complete games.

“One thing I will say about our group — they’ve worked. They’ve had good will. They haven’t stepped off at all. For the most part, that’s the most enthusiastic, high-morale 0-4-2 stretch team I’ve ever experienced, and I think that’s a credit to the guys.”

The Wednesday game will be the first of three meetings between the clubs this season.

–Field Level Media

The Boston Bruins will try to beat the New Jersey Devils on the road for the second time in six days when the teams meet Wednesday night.

The Devils have been idle since that contest, while the Bruins returned from their holiday break on Tuesday and lost 3-2 in a shootout to the host Ottawa Senators.

On Friday in Newark, N.J., David Pastrnak scored two of Boston’s four second-period goals and Linus Ullmark made 37 saves to help the Bruins defeat the Devils. Patrice Bergeron and Jake DeBrusk also scored for Boston, which carried a 4-1 lead into the third period.

“You look at the second period, probably our best opportunities to score, breakaway, off the iron a couple of times. We don’t,” New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. “We made a couple big mistakes. I didn’t like our puck play. I didn’t like our determination on a couple goals against. At the same time maybe get a save, too.”

Jack Hughes, Tomas Tatar and Yegor Sharangovich scored for New Jersey in the loss. Hughes leads the team in goals (18) and points (39) this season.

Devils goalie Mackenzie Blackwood allowed four goals on 18 shots before he was pulled and replaced by Vitek Vanecek after two periods.

“We’d like Blackwood to be better,” Ruff said. “There were a couple saves you’d like to get. We didn’t get them. We tried to look for a little bit of a spark by putting V in and saying if you can keep him there, maybe we can get back in. And we almost did.”

Vanecek has a 12-4-0 record with a 2.41 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage in 22 games (19 starts) this season. Blackwood is 5-3-0 with a 2.96 goals-against average and an .882 save percentage in 10 appearances (nine starts).

“We made some mistakes, they made some good plays,” Blackwood said. “I screwed up a little bit, so just a combination of everything.”

The Devils are 1-6-1 in their past eight games and have a 3-6-2 record in December.

Boston had its four-game winning streak end on Tuesday in Ottawa, but the Bruins still extended their point streak to eight games (6-0-2). Jeremy Swayman made 30 saves in the loss, but Cam Talbot stopped 49 shots for Ottawa.

The Bruins put 27 shots on goal in the third period while getting the tying tally from Pavel Zacha with 3:33 left in regulation. Zacha ended his 17-game goalless streak, and DeBrusk also scored for Boston.

“The big thing is when you come back from three days off and a lot of time away from the rink … you just want to get better every period,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. “We did get better every period, especially in the third we got to our game. So we’re really happy about that.

“We would have liked to have the outcome. Jeremy Swayman did everything he could to give us the opportunity.”

The Bruins own the third-best power-play percentage in the NHL (.293), but they failed to score in three man-advantage opportunities. The loss dropped Boston’s road record to 9-4-1.

The Devils remain without defensemen John Marino (upper body) and Ryan Graves (lower body), who are listed as week-to-week. New Jersey recalled defenseman Nikita Okhotiuk from Utica of the AHL prior to the Friday matchup with Boston, and the 22-year-old Russian played in his first NHL game of the season.

–Field Level Media

Connor McDavid scored the winning goal in the third period to run his point-scoring streak to 16 games and lead the visiting Edmonton Oilers to an entertaining 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.

Tyson Barrie also scored for the Oilers, who received a sparkling 46-save performance from goaltender Stuart Skinner. Twenty-four of those saves came in the third period. Mikael Backlund tallied for the Flames. Jacob Markstrom stopped 20 shots in a top-rate goaltending battle.

McDavid’s power-play goal at the 7:28 mark of the third proved to be the difference. McDavid worked with the puck to the high slot and ripped a shot off the post and into the net for his league-best 31st goal of the season.

The Edmonton captain has collected 15 goals and 32 points in his point-scoring spree, which is one short of the longest streak of his career. He became the first player to notch 16-game point streaks in consecutive seasons since Dany Heatley did so for the Ottawa Senators in 2005-06 and 2006-07.

Maple Leafs 5, Blues 4 (OT)

William Nylander scored the overtime winner to lift visiting Toronto over St. Louis.

Calle Jarnkrok had a goal and two assists for the Maple Leafs, who are 12-2-1 in their last 15 games. Justin Holl, John Tavares and Alexander Kerfoot also scored for Toronto, and Ilya Samsonsov made 30 saves.

Calle Rosen, Ryan O’Reilly, Justin Faulk and Jordan Kyrou scored for the Blues, and Jordan Binnington stopped 32 shots.

Islanders 5, Penguins 1

Anders Lee and Mathew Barzal scored twice apiece as New York rolled over Pittsburgh in Elmont, N.Y.

The two-goal game was the second of the season for both Lee and Barzal. Josh Bailey had a goal and an assist and Brock Nelson added two assists for the Islanders, who earned their most lopsided win over the Penguins since a 9-3 rout on Feb. 11, 2011. Ilya Sorokin made 20 saves as the Islanders won their second straight — their first winning streak since a four-game run Nov. 21-26.

Pierre-Olivier Joseph scored for the Penguins, who have lost three of four (1-2-1). Tristan Jarry recorded 37 saves.

Senators 3, Bruins 2 (SO)

Cam Talbot made a season-high 49 saves and Alex DeBrincat scored the only goal in the shootout to help Ottawa end a three-game losing streak with a win over visiting Boston.

DeBrincat and Tim Stutzle scored in regulation for Ottawa, which raised its home record to 9-8-1. Drake Batherson assisted on each goal, both of which came in the second period.

Jake DeBrusk and Pavel Zacha provided the goals for Boston. Zacha’s goal tied the game 2-2 with 3:33 remaining in regulation.

Kings 4, Knights 2

Alex Iafallo scored what proved to be the game-winner midway through the third period as Los Angeles defeated visiting Vegas.

Los Angeles goalie Pheonix Copley made 23 saves to extend his personal win streak to five games. Phillip Danault and Viktor Arvidsson each had a goal and two assists, Iafallo contributed two points and Gabe Vilardi scored his team-leading 15th goal of the season for the Kings.

Michael Amadio and Brayden McNabb scored goals for Vegas, which took just its third regulation road loss of the season (14-3-1). Logan Thompson stopped 21 of 24 shots.

Wild 4, Jets 1

Mats Zuccarello, Frederick Gaudreau and Jared Spurgeon each had a goal and an assist and Minnesota defeated host Winnipeg.

Samuel Walker also scored for the Wild, who endured an odd travel day, having to fly to Winnipeg on the day of the game because of the NHL’s three-day holiday break.

Pierre-Luc Dubois scored for Winnipeg, while Connor Hellebuyck made 24 saves in the loss.

Capitals 4, Rangers 0

Darcy Kuemper made 32 saves and surging Washington scored twice in the final 2:59 of the second period to pull away for a victory over host New York.

The Capitals matched a season high with their fifth straight win and won for the 10th time in 11 games thanks to Kuemper, who posted his third shutout of the season and the 28th of his career. Marcus Johansson, Erik Gustafsson and Lars Eller scored for the Capitals.

New York lost for the second time in three games following a seven-game winning streak. The Rangers missed the net 23 times and also had 16 shots blocked while being blanked for the second time this season and getting booed off the ice after the final buzzer.

Stars 3, Predators 2

Roope Hintz’s second goal of the night came with 52.3 seconds left in regulation, breaking a tie and lifting visiting Dallas to a victory over Nashville.

Jamie Benn assisted on the winning play and opened the scoring with career goal 343 to sit alone in second place on the franchise list for the Stars, who are amid a 7-2-1 overall stretch. Jake Oettinger made 26 saves for the win.

Filip Forsberg and Yakov Trenin each had a goal and Juuse Saros made 30 saves for the Predators, who are mired in a 1-3-1 home stretch.

Hurricanes 3, Blackhawks 0

Antti Raanta registered his first shutout of the season, and Carolina used a strong opening period to set the tone to stretch its franchise-record point streak to 15 games by defeating Chicago in Raleigh, N.C.

Martin Necas, Jesper Fast and Jordan Martinook scored goals for Carolina, which won its ninth game in a row. Raanta’s 24 saves got the job done, seeing seven shots in each the first and third periods.

Chicago fell for the ninth time in its last 10 outings. It has been a shutout victim three times during that stretch. The Blackhawks were trying to win back-to-back games for the first time since late October. Blackhawks goalie Petr Mrazek, a former Hurricanes goalie, made 46 saves.

Coyotes 6, Avalanche 3

Lawson Crouse had a goal and two assists and Jakob Chychrun added three assists as Arizona recorded a win over Colorado in Tempe, Ariz.

Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller each had a goal and an assist for the Coyotes, who have won back-to-back games. Shayne Gostisbehere, J.J. Moser and Michael Carcone scored Arizona’s other goals, and Connor Ingram stopped 28 shots.

Cale Makar had a goal and an assist for Colorado, and J.T. Compher had two assists. Evan Rodrigues and Mikko Rantanen also scored while Alexandar Georgiev made 27 saves for the Avalanche, whose four-game winning streak ended.

–Field Level Media

Alex Iafallo scored what proved to be the game-winner midway through the third period as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the visiting Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 on Tuesday night.

Los Angeles goalie Pheonix Copley made 23 saves to extend his personal win streak to five games.

Phillip Danault and Viktor Arvidsson each had a goal and two assists, Iafallo contributed two points and Gabe Vilardi scored his team-leading 15th goal of the season for the Kings. Second-place Los Angeles moved within three points of the Pacific Division-leading Golden Knights by recording its fourth consecutive home victory.

Michael Amadio and Brayden McNabb scored goals for Vegas, which took just its third regulation road loss of the season (14-3-1). Logan Thompson stopped 21 of 24 shots.

Los Angeles grabbed a 1-0 lead at the 11:57 mark of the first period, taking advantage of a Daniil Miromanov turnover in his own zone. Blake Lizotte picked up the puck and fed Vilardi in the right circle, where Vilardi one-timed a shot past Thompson’s glove side.

The Golden Knights tied it just 71 seconds later on a power-play goal by Amadio. He ripped a one-timer off an Alex Pietrangelo pass from the left circle into the top near corner for his fourth goal of the season.

Vegas took a 2-1 lead at the 10:07 of the second period on McNabb’s first goal in 46 games dating back to April. Reilly Smith set up the score with a between-the-legs pass from the right side of the net to McNabb cutting down the slot, where he jammed a shot past Copley.

The Kings tied a little over three minutes later when Arvidsson found Danault all alone on the right side of the crease. Danault then slapped a shot over Thompson’s left pad for his 10th goal of the season.

Iafallo put Los Angeles ahead to stay at the 8:36 mark of the third period. He finished a rush by taking an Arvidsson crossing pass and snapping a shot from the edge of the left circle past Thompson’s glove side for his fifth goal of the season.

The Golden Knights pulled Thompson for an extra attacker with 1:40 remaining, and Arvidsson sealed the win with an empty-netter with 26.8 seconds left, his 10th goal of the season.

Vegas defenseman Alec Martinez, who entered the contest with a league-leading 131 blocked shots, took an Iafallo slap shot off his right ankle in the first period and did not return.

–Field Level Media

Bo Horvat had two goals and two assists for the Vancouver Canucks in a 6-2 win against the visiting San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night.

Ilya Mikheyev had a goal and three assists, Brock Boeser had a goal and two assists and Spencer Martin made 24 saves for Vancouver, which has won three in a row.

Timo Meier scored two goals to give him 300 NHL points, Erik Karlsson had two assists to extend his point streak to a career-high 10 games and James Reimer made 19 saves for the Sharks, who have lost eight in a row against the Canucks.

The Canucks took a 1-0 lead at 4:26 of the first period when the puck caromed to Horvat at the side of the net, and he scored from a sharp angle.

Vancouver moved ahead 2-0 at 16:03 of the first period.

Reimer dropped his stick after making back-to-back saves on Lane Pederson and Elias Pettersson took advantage, sliding the puck under Reimer as he sprawled on his stomach.

Meier scored 10 seconds into a power play when he redirected Karlsson’s pass into the net to make it 2-1 with 51 seconds left.

Karlsson has two goals and 14 assists during his point streak.

Mikheyev scored off a feed from Andrei Kuzmenko to make it 3-1 at 4:36 of the second period.

The Canucks quickly expanded their lead to 4-1 at 6:16.

Quinn Hughes retrieved the puck in the corner of the offensive zone and looped around to the opposite post before scoring from just below the left circle.

Horvat made it 5-1 when he got ahead of the defense and scored his 26th goal of the season on a wrist shot from the inside edge of the right circle at 12:11 of the third period.

Horvat is tied for second in the NHL in goals with Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres, five behind Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers.

Meier and Karlsson teamed up for another goal with 5:27 left to make it 5-2, but Boeser answered back 2:59 later to make it 6-2.

–Field Level Media