Jarnkrok's first hat trick helps Predators defeat Kings

NASHVILLE -- Calle Jarnkrok scored his first NHL hat trick in a 5-3 win for the Nashville Predators against the Los Angeles Kings at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday.

Ryan Ellis and Roman Josi each had two assists for Nashville (14-5-1), which ended a three-game losing streak. Pekka Rinne made 25 saves.
"It was nice, especially to get a win here at home after a couple of tough losses on the road here," Jarnkrok said.
WATCH: [All Kings vs. Predators highlights]
Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist, and Cal Petersen made 38 saves for Los Angeles (6-12-1), which has lost four of its past five games.
Jarnkrok gave the Predators a 4-3 lead at 11:54 of the third period while shorthanded to complete the hat trick. He led the rush and scored his sixth goal of the season on a shot from the top of the left face-off circle.
"He's an important player in here, whether it's offensively or defensively," Ellis said of Jarnkrok. "You put him out on the power play and he showed what he can do. He got us going when we needed it, and we got some big goals from him."

Kyle Turris gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 3:18 of the second period on the power play on a one-timer from the left circle.
"We feel like we're using our speed a bit, we're moving pucks faster," Turris said. "We've just got to get more bodies to the front of the net and create more chaos and more screens."
Nate Thompson scored for the Kings to tie the game 1-1 at 5:55 of the second period.
"It was nice to get that one out of the way and contribute a little bit but at the same time, it would be a lot nicer to get some more wins right now," Thompson said.
Kopitar scored 19 seconds later to give the Kings a 2-1 lead. Dustin Brown forced a turnover and passed the puck to Kopitar, who scored his fifth goal.

Jarnkrok scored for the Predators to tie the game 2-2 at 8:05 of the second period on a wrist shot from the high slot.
Forward Alex Iafallo gave the Kings a 3-2 lead at 10:15 of the second period on a rebound.
Jarnkrok scored his second goal of the game to tie the game 3-3 at 5:44 of the third period on the power play on a wrist shot from the right circle.
"It's nice to be out there on the power play for sure," Jarnkrok said. "I want to be out there. I'm just doing my best."
Predators center Nick Bonino scored an empty-net goal to make it 5-3 at 19:03 of the third period.

They said it

"It takes 60 minutes to win in this league. We were pretty good in the first period, but I thought we fell off in the second and third and made some mistakes. They made a push, we couldn't push back and that was the game." -- Kings forward Nate Thompson
"I've got to give our guys in the room a lot of credit because we fell behind a few times and just stayed persistent and stayed consistent with our game and didn't stop, and by the end we were able to catch up and then take the lead on a shorthanded goal. But it's always a little bit tougher playing from behind; you've got to chase the game a little bit." -- Predators coach Peter Laviolette

Need to know

Kings defenseman Dion Phaneuf played in his 1,000th NHL game. … Petersen is the first Kings goalie to start his first two NHL games on back-to-back days since Wayne Rutledge won the first two games in Kings history on Oct. 14 and 15, 1967 against the Philadelphia Flyers and Minnesota North Stars. … Jarnkrok is the seventh player since the 2013-14 season to have a hat trick that included a goal at even strength, shorthanded and on the power play. … Predators defenseman P.K. Subban will miss at least one more game because an upper-body injury. … Bonino has scored in consecutive games after not scoring in his first 17 games of the season.

What's next

Kings: At the St. Louis Blues on Monday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, FS-W, NHL.TV)
Predators: Host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday (8 p.m. ET; FS-TN, SUN, NHL.TV)