Jeff Carter lifts Kings to fourth straight win

LOS ANGELES -- Jeff Carter scored with 28.1 seconds left in overtime to give the Los Angeles Kings a 3-2 win against the Nashville Predators at Staples Center on Thursday.
Carter took a pass from Anze Kopitar on the left side, and his shot glanced off the right pad of goalie Pekka Rinne and into the net to give the Kings (4-3-0) their fourth straight win, each decided after regulation.

"We'd like to win [without going to] overtime and shootout games and save ourselves a little bit," Carter said. "But … there's no easy nights in the [Western Conference]. We're battling every night. If it takes us to overtime every night to win games, then that's what it is."
Rinne made 42 saves in his second game in as many nights and kept Nashville in the game with two saves while shorthanded in overtime. Kings goalie Peter Budaj made 24 saves, eight in the third period and overtime when Los Angeles dominated possession.

"Faceoffs, I think we lost every one in overtime," Nashville center Ryan Johansen said.
The Predators (2-4-1), who allowed three power-play goals and two shorthanded goals in a 6-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday, allowed a power-play goal to Jake Muzzin, and Kings forward Tyler Toffoli scored as a Nashville penalty expired.
Toffoli tied it 2-2 when he went to the net to follow Nic Dowd's shot and put in the rebound at 1:41 of the third period with Predators defenseman P.K. Subban trying to clear the puck. Nashville forward James Neal was called for unsportsmanlike conduct with 19 seconds left in the second.
With Neal in the penalty box, Viktor Arvidsson scored a shorthanded goal to put the Predators ahead 2-1 at 1:00 of the third.
Muzzin tied it 1-1 when his shot through traffic knuckled under Rinne's glove at 15:59 of the second period for his first goal of the season. Nashville forward Craig Smith was serving a hooking penalty.
Smith gave Nashville a 1-0 lead with his second goal of the season at 10:56 of the second period. He followed up his wraparound attempt and momentarily tied up Kings right wing Devin Setoguchi to shoot the puck in through traffic in the slot.

Goal of the game

Arvidsson looked off teammate Mike Fisher on a 2-on-1 and beat Budaj through the five-hole from the right side for his Predators-leading fourth goal.

Save of the game

Budaj made a left-pad stop on a Ryan Ellis slap shot at 12:23 of the third period during a Nashville power play. Ellis had an open look when he shot the puck from the edge of the left faceoff circle. Muzzin deflected Neal's rebound attempt over the net.

Highlight of the game

It wasn't a scoring play or a great save, but Neal earned attention when he grabbed Kings defenseman Drew Doughty's stick and flung it into the air while each was headed toward the bench. Neal was called for unsportsmanlike conduct at 19:41 of the second period, and Toffoli scored as Neal was coming out of the penalty box.

Unsung moment of the game

Dowd went to the bench in pain after he blocked a shot by Predators defenseman Yannick Weber in the first period. The puck appeared to hit Dowd on the toe, but he returned.

Need to know

Defenseman Matt Irwin made his Predators debut. … Smith's goal was the first time Nashville scored first in a game this season. … The Kings have won four consecutive games past regulation for the first time in their history. Los Angeles is the first NHL team to do so since the Columbus Blue Jackets from Dec. 9-16, 2014, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

They said it

"He's played really well for us. We don't give up much, and he's expected to make some big saves, obviously, but we don't give up many shots." -- Kings coach Darryl Sutter on goalie Peter Budaj
"It's not coming easy right now as far as offense. The goals are just hard to come by right now for a lot of our guys. But I asked for a better effort. Our guys gave that today. But in the end, we've got to find points." -- Predators coach Peter Laviolette
"I haven't scored yet. A couple of others haven't scored yet. It can get frustrating. We've just got to focus on what we can control. Like I said this morning, just keep putting the work in and hopefully the bounces come and we get some breaks." -- Predators center Ryan Johansen

What's next

Predators: At the San Jose Sharks on Saturday (10:30 p.m. ET; CSN-CA, FS-TN, NHL.TV)
Kings: Home against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET; FS-W, PRIME, NHL.TV)