CALGARY, Alberta -- There will be a new Stanley Cup champion in June.

There also will be something different in Calgary this spring -- playoff hockey for the first time since 2008-09.

Thanks to the Calgary Flames' 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night at the Scotiabank Saddledome, the California franchise that hoisted the Cup two of the past three seasons was officially eliminated from the playoff race, while the Alberta franchise that was not expected to be in contention this season booked its playoff ticket.

The Flames (45-29-7) rode first-period goals from left wingers Johnny Gaudreau and Jiri Hudler to extinguish their five-season playoff drought, and Hudler buried an empty-netter to close it out in the third period.

Los Angeles (39-27-15) came out flat and never recovered, despite making a game of it in the third period when center Jordan Nolan buried a big rebound past goalie Jonas Hiller to cut the Kings' deficit to one at 5:00.

However, that was as close as the defending champs would get, and the Kings will now have a long summer -- the first one in recent memory -- to think about it.

Hiller made 33 saves to earn his 26th win of the season.

Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick turned aside 22 shots in the loss.

A comatose first period was the Kings' undoing. The Flames sent a sold-out Saddledome crowd of 19,289 into a frenzy when Gaudreau tossed one at the net and the puck slid off Quick's arm and over the goal line. It was close enough for a video review, but it was clear the puck crossed the line at 12:15.

Just over two minutes later, Hudler walked across the blue line and rifled a rocket past Quick and off the post and in to give the Flames an early 2-0 lead.

As expected, Los Angeles pushed back in the second period, outshooting the Flames 12-4, but couldn't find any room behind Hiller.

The story was the same in the third frame, as the Kings desperately tried to save their season to no avail.

The Kings' loss also clinches the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference for the Winnipeg Jets (42-26-13).

NOTES: The last team to win the Stanley Cup and not make the playoffs the following season was the 2006-07 Carolina Hurricanes. ... Flames C Sean Monahan scored his eighth game-winning goal of the season in Tuesday's win over the Arizona Coyotes, making him just the fifth player in league history to post at least eight game-winners in one season before his 21st birthday, joining Wayne Gretzky (1981-82), Pierre Turgeon (1989-90), Eric Lindros (1993-94) and Sergei Samsonov (1998-99). ... The Flames were missing a key piece Thursday, as LW Lance Bouma (upper-body) sat out. Bouma sits fourth on the team with a career-high 16 goals this season. LW Brandon Bollig dressed for Bouma. ... G Brad Thiessen was sent back to the AHL on Thursday morning in order to make room for Joni Ortio, who served as the backup to Jonas Hiller. Ortio had been sidelined since the end of February with a high-ankle sprain. ... Kings coach Darryl Sutter inserted C Mike Richards into the lineup at the expense of C Nick Shore.