matt duchene scored in the second round of the shootout, and the Nashville Predators ended the Kings’ five-game winning streak with a 2-1 win Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena.
Duchene, who scored his 27th penalty shootout goal in 71 chances, put a shot between the legs of Pheonix Copley for the only score in the tiebreaker.
Tommy Novak scored for the Predators and Kevin Lankinen made 26 saves.
Mikey Anderson he had the Kings goal, and Copley saved 30 shots.
Anderson opened the scoring at 9:32 into the first half when he received a pass from Gabriel Vilardi in the slot and hit Lankinen on the glove side with a quick shot. It was the defender’s fourth goal of the season and his second in the last three games.
Nashville matched it on the power play with 55.2 seconds remaining in the first when Novak scored from over in the slot as Copley was being thrown. The goal made Novak the sixth Nashville player with 10 or more goals this season.
Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson (44) scores on Predators goaltender Kevin Lankinen during the first period.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
It was also the Predators’ 10th power play goal since February 18, which is their third in the NHL.
Nashville’s Philip Tomasino had the best chance in overtime, but missed the shot in front of the net.
coach room
Kings forward Kevin Fiala missed the game with a lower body injury. Fiala, who leads the Kings with 68 points, left Thursday’s game in Colorado after a knee-to-knee hit by Andrew Cogliano.
Until next time
Predators: At Ducks on Sunday night.
Kings: Host the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.
