#LAKings Kings do little with a lot of shots against Predators (Daily News)
LOS ANGELES A juggled lineup and some poorly defended entries condemned the Kings to a 4-2 loss despite outshooting the Nashville Predators 48-20 on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena.
Wingers Dustin Brown and Martin Frk scored for the Kings, while Jonathan Quick made 16 saves.
Wingers Matt Duchene and Filip Forsberg each had two points for Nashville, as did defenseman Roman Josi. Former Kings winger Matt Luff scored his first goal of the season and center Yakov Trenin added an empty-netter. Jusse Saros made 46 saves against the Kings season-high shot total.
The Kings got Brown back from the COVID protocols. His return was hardly an even tradeoff given that the team lost forwards Alex Iafallo, Carl Grundstrom and Alex Turcotte as well as defenseman Christian Wolanin to the COVID non-roster list. Olli Maatta exited protocols but was dealing with an unrelated illness, opening the door for 23-year-old Jacob Moverare to make his NHL debut. Forward Lias Andersson played his first game since Dec. 28 and Frk dressed for the first time since last season (Feb. 5, 2021).
The Kings applied pressure offensively late in the game, but they were done in by Trenins tap-in to the unguarded cage.
With 9:27 left, the Kings drew within a goal and cashed in on their fourth power-play opportunity. Arvidsson moved the puck up the wall to defenseman Drew Doughty, who faked a shot and dished to Frk, whose searing shot from the point became his first goal since March 11, 2020.
The second period was only slightly kinder to the Kings than the first. They fell down 3-0 less than three minutes into the period. It was their third goal surrendered immediately after an offensive zone entry. After a Kings neutral-zone turnover, Nashville gained the blue line and in the blink of an eye, winger Michael McCarron set up Luff for a one-timer in tight.
Soon after, they had another opportunity due to an infraction, this time a foul against Adrian Kempe for which he was awarded a penalty shot. He failed to score off his forehand in the third consecutive Kings game that involved a penalty shot. Entering Thursdays action, there had been just 16 all season across the NHL, and the Kings have now been involved in five (three of those as shooters), but none have resulted in a goal.
Midway through the game, the Kings got on the board with a superlative individual effort from Brown. Nashville defenseman Alexandre Carrier fanned on the puck and Brown pounced. He darted off for a breakaway that saw him fake a shot and then open up Saros with swift transitions from forehand to backhand and back to his forehand for his fifth goal of the season.
Winger Brendan Lemieux fought defenseman Mark Borowiecki. It was the Kings fourth fighting major of the season, all of which were assessed to Lemieux. Nashville has been the leagues most bellicose team with 20 fights.
The Kings carried possession and out-shot the Predators 13-6 in the first period, but trailed 2-0 at intermission because they lost the special-teams battle. They gave up two power-play goals and failed to score on their only opportunity with the man advantage. Their top unit sustained pressure for more than 90 seconds and produced some near misses, including a Doughty shot that dinged the post.
That failure to convert was sandwiched between two Nashville power-play goals.
With 59 seconds left in the frame, a savvy entry by Josi saw the puck move to Forsberg and then Duchene. He drove the puck into traffic, fending off Rasmus Kupari, beating Doughty and Mikey Anderson to the net. He went backhand to forehand to flick a shot that bounced off Quick and trickled across the goal line.
A holding penalty on Anze Kopitar left the Kings shorthanded. After a precarious entry that pulled the penalty killers toward the left-wing wall, Josi settled the action and moved the puck to Forsberg at the right point. He skated to the right faceoff dot unmolested to whip a rising wrist shot over Quicks glove 3:49 into the match.
Forsberg leads the NHL with 12 goals since Nov. 30 as Nashville has gone 11-2-1 in its last 14 games to grab the Central Division lead.
More to come on this story.
https://www.dailynews.com/2022/01/06...nst-predators/
Wingers Dustin Brown and Martin Frk scored for the Kings, while Jonathan Quick made 16 saves.
Wingers Matt Duchene and Filip Forsberg each had two points for Nashville, as did defenseman Roman Josi. Former Kings winger Matt Luff scored his first goal of the season and center Yakov Trenin added an empty-netter. Jusse Saros made 46 saves against the Kings season-high shot total.
The Kings got Brown back from the COVID protocols. His return was hardly an even tradeoff given that the team lost forwards Alex Iafallo, Carl Grundstrom and Alex Turcotte as well as defenseman Christian Wolanin to the COVID non-roster list. Olli Maatta exited protocols but was dealing with an unrelated illness, opening the door for 23-year-old Jacob Moverare to make his NHL debut. Forward Lias Andersson played his first game since Dec. 28 and Frk dressed for the first time since last season (Feb. 5, 2021).
The Kings applied pressure offensively late in the game, but they were done in by Trenins tap-in to the unguarded cage.
With 9:27 left, the Kings drew within a goal and cashed in on their fourth power-play opportunity. Arvidsson moved the puck up the wall to defenseman Drew Doughty, who faked a shot and dished to Frk, whose searing shot from the point became his first goal since March 11, 2020.
The second period was only slightly kinder to the Kings than the first. They fell down 3-0 less than three minutes into the period. It was their third goal surrendered immediately after an offensive zone entry. After a Kings neutral-zone turnover, Nashville gained the blue line and in the blink of an eye, winger Michael McCarron set up Luff for a one-timer in tight.
Soon after, they had another opportunity due to an infraction, this time a foul against Adrian Kempe for which he was awarded a penalty shot. He failed to score off his forehand in the third consecutive Kings game that involved a penalty shot. Entering Thursdays action, there had been just 16 all season across the NHL, and the Kings have now been involved in five (three of those as shooters), but none have resulted in a goal.
Midway through the game, the Kings got on the board with a superlative individual effort from Brown. Nashville defenseman Alexandre Carrier fanned on the puck and Brown pounced. He darted off for a breakaway that saw him fake a shot and then open up Saros with swift transitions from forehand to backhand and back to his forehand for his fifth goal of the season.
Winger Brendan Lemieux fought defenseman Mark Borowiecki. It was the Kings fourth fighting major of the season, all of which were assessed to Lemieux. Nashville has been the leagues most bellicose team with 20 fights.
The Kings carried possession and out-shot the Predators 13-6 in the first period, but trailed 2-0 at intermission because they lost the special-teams battle. They gave up two power-play goals and failed to score on their only opportunity with the man advantage. Their top unit sustained pressure for more than 90 seconds and produced some near misses, including a Doughty shot that dinged the post.
That failure to convert was sandwiched between two Nashville power-play goals.
With 59 seconds left in the frame, a savvy entry by Josi saw the puck move to Forsberg and then Duchene. He drove the puck into traffic, fending off Rasmus Kupari, beating Doughty and Mikey Anderson to the net. He went backhand to forehand to flick a shot that bounced off Quick and trickled across the goal line.
A holding penalty on Anze Kopitar left the Kings shorthanded. After a precarious entry that pulled the penalty killers toward the left-wing wall, Josi settled the action and moved the puck to Forsberg at the right point. He skated to the right faceoff dot unmolested to whip a rising wrist shot over Quicks glove 3:49 into the match.
Forsberg leads the NHL with 12 goals since Nov. 30 as Nashville has gone 11-2-1 in its last 14 games to grab the Central Division lead.
More to come on this story.
https://www.dailynews.com/2022/01/06...nst-predators/