Back home after a season-long six-game road trip, the Kings opened a four-game home stand against the Nashville Predators on Thursday night. On ESPN+ and Hulu for the second consecutive game, the Kings set out for a different result than their last result. Unfortunately, it was a second straight loss for the Kings and the 10th in their last 11 outings.
The Kings and Predators played a scoreless first period that saw momentum swings for both teams. A strong first half of the period by the Kings was followed by a strong second half of the period by the Predators, finishing with 11-8 shot advantage for the road team. Each team went 0-for-2 on the power play and sent the game into the second period with goose eggs.
It took 27:56 for the game’s first goal on Thursday as the Predators opened the scoring on the power play. Veteran Ryan O’Reilly tipped in a Roman Josi point shot for 17th tally of the season. Trailing by a goal, the Kings quickly countered with a power-play goal of their own. Coming just 56 seconds after the Predators goal, Drew Doughty blasted another one-timer to make it power-play goals in back-to-back games for the blueliner. The goal for Doughty gives him 10 goals on the season, the eighth time he’s reached double-digit goals in his career and the first time in six seasons.
All tied, the Predators retook the lead just under five minutes later as Gustav Nyquist beat Kings goaltender David Rittich with a rebound put-back. The Predators took their 2-1 lead into the third period and held onto it for 20 more minutes. Despite 13 third period shots by the Kings, Predators goalie Juuse Saros turned them all away.
Rittich made his fourth start and fifth appearance for the Kings, stopping 31 of 33 shots.
