Predators end Kings winning streak at 5

The Nashville Predators ended the Los Angeles Kings' five-game winning streak with a 2-1 shootout victory at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Kevin Lankinen made 26 saves, and Tommy Novak scored for the Predators (32-24-7), who had lost two straight. Matt Duchene scored the only goal in the shootout.
"Guys did a good job," Duchene said. "That's a team with some guys that have won Cups, and a team that's been really hot lately. So that's a great win, obviously. [It seems like] we almost have a guy playing his first NHL game every night right now, and the guys are coming in and pulling their weight, doing the job."
Nashville remained six points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. The Predators have played three fewer games.
"I thought in general it was a good hockey game," Nashville coach John Hynes said. "I thought both teams competed really hard. They had some good lucks, and our goaltender made some big saves. I thought we had some good looks at times, and their guys made some big saves. I thought in general it was a hard-fought battle, and glad that we were able to come out on top."

Mikey Anderson scored, and Pheonix Copley made 29 saves for the Kings (38-20-9), who are one point behind the Vegas Golden Knights for first in the Pacific Division. Vegas has one game in hand.
"I think we had chances to win the game," Los Angeles forward Adrian Kempe said. "I think we played OK enough to win the game. … It was nothing with the structure or anything. It just didn't bounce our way. It didn't feel good out there. Just difficult, a little frustrating."
Anderson gave the Kings a 1-0 lead at 9:32 of the first period, chipping down and scoring from the edge of the left circle with a wrist shot over Lankinen's left shoulder.
"[Anderson] just seems more confident," Los Angeles defenseman Matt Roy said. "He knows his game defensively, and he seems to be jumping up more offensively, and it's showing out there. So it's good to have, and it's good to have more production."
Novak tied it 1-1 at 19:04 of the first. He scored a power-play goal with a wrist shot from just inside the blue line past a screened Copley.

Lankinen, who was making his first start since March 2, made one of his best saves at 3:42 of overtime, when he gloved Kempe's wrist shot from the left face-off circle.
"[Lankinen] was huge," Hynes said. "He made some big saves for us. Goaltending has been [great] for us all year, whether it was [Lankinen or Juuse Saros]. Tonight, Kevin was the big difference in the game. That's what we need from him. We need both guys to come up and help us win games, and it was nice to see Kevin get the win."
NOTES: Predators defenseman Ryan McDonagh left the game with 24 seconds left in the third period after taking a puck to the face. There was no update postgame. … Nashville recalled forward Egor Afanasyev from Milwaukee of the American Hockey League earlier Saturday. He had two shots and one hit in 8:24 of ice time in his NHL debut. … Predators forward Rasmus Asplund is day to day because of an illness.