Turcotte gets 1st NHL goal, Kings defeat Predators to end 4-game skid

NASHVILLE -- Alex Turcotte scored his first NHL goal, and David Rittich made 39 saves in a 4-2 win for the Los Angeles Kings against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday.

Turcotte, the No. 5 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, also had an assist in his 14th career game.

“It was obviously really exciting, and I kind of blacked out there for a little bit,” Turcotte said of scoring his first goal. “Just a big relief.”

Carl Grundstrom, Trevor Lewis and Kevin Fiala scored for the Kings (23-15-10), who had lost four in a row (0-2-2).

“We haven’t rolled over and quit, a reflection of the character of the group,” Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan said. “We’ve got a long way to go to get our game back, but to go into the (All-Star) break feeling a little bit good about ourselves is a real good thing. I thought we had pretty good focus for most of the night.”

Filip Forsberg scored, and Juuse Saros made 20 saves for the Predators (26-23-2), who lost their third straight (0-2-1) and are 1-3-1 in the past five games.

“I loved our effort,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “I loved our game. I thought, besides those few little details that were missed out on, we did all the things that make us a good team. Unfortunately, we didn’t finish. I thought we created. I thought we played with a lot of pace. I thought we had the puck most of the game.”

Grundstrom gave the Kings a 1-0 lead at 8:51 of the first period with a shot from the right circle on a 2-on-1 rush after stealing the puck at center ice.

“We wanted to bring some energy tonight and have positive shifts for our team,” Lewis said. “We had a few good chances there. It was awesome to see [Turcotte] get his first one. That’s a huge boost for the team, too. Everyone is excited. And [Grundstrom] hadn’t scored for a while either (since Nov. 25), so I’m sure he was pretty happy about that. It was a good night.”

Turcotte made it 2-0 at 5:36 of the second period with a short side shot from the left circle off a pass by Trevor Moore.

“That was all [Moore],” Turcotte said. “He made a great play through the neutral zone, and I just kind of found the opening. He got it to me, and I just ripped it, and I was fortunate for it to go in. It was awesome.”

Nashville appeared to cut the lead to 2-1 on a goal by Tyson Barrie at 6:09, but Los Angeles successfully challenged for goaltender interference by Cody Glass on the play.

Forsberg converted on a rebound off the end boards to bring the Predators within 2-1 at 5:15 of the third period.

“I think in the new year, we haven’t gotten the points that we’ve wanted,” Forsberg said. “There’s been games that we’ve left points on the board. But I think we’re finding our game. If somebody would’ve told me we would be in this spot before the season, I probably still would’ve liked to play for it because I like the talent that we have. But at the same time, we’re in the mix and we’re still growing."

Lewis extended the lead to 3-1 at 13:20 with a shot from the slot off a pass from behind the net by Quinton Byfield.

Philip Tomasino made it 3-2 at 16:35 with a tap-in off a cross-ice pass by Roman Josi.

Fiala scored into an empty net at 18:51 for the 4-2 final.

“I hope that this is going to help us flip the coin and start a stretch with wins,” Rittich said. “It’s for sure great for us going into the break after a win. A really important win against the team who was in the wild card. Each point for us is really important in our situation, so I’m glad we came away with two.”

NOTES: Turcotte and Lewis each was a game-high plus-3. … Byfield returned after missing two games because of illness and finished with one assist and two shots in 13:53 of ice time. … Barrie played his 800th NHL game. … Josi finished with one assist and three shots in 29:06. … Nashville went 0-for-4 on the power play.