Just one week after losing a mostly unwatchable game to the Nashville Predators, the Kings went to Nashville for a shot at redemption. It didn't work out quite the way they had planned. Looking at the game on paper, it would appear to favor the Kings, particularly when one looks at the shots on goal. On this night of Feb 7, the Kings outshot Nashville 32-14 but still lost the game.
The game - Nashville started strong. They swarmed the Kings early and often, and Quick came up with several big saves in the early moments of the first period. Gabriel Bourque scored just 2:54 in the game, to put the Preds up 1-0. Kings outshot 8-7, but Preds goalie Pekka Rinne got a good look at every shot and was able to keep the visiting team off the scoreboard.
As the second period began, the Kings played with much more resolve. So much so, that Predators' Head coach Barry Trotz called a timeout with just over six minutes having been played. It worked to perfection. Not a minute after the timeout, the Predators gained control of the biscuit, and came through the neutral zone, with speed. As they crossed the Kings' blueline, Brandon Yip and Kevin Klein worked a give and go, as Colin Wilson went to the net. The Kings had players back on defense, but unfortunately got caught watching the puck instead of the opposing players. Klein found Wilson alone in the crease, to put the home team up 2-0, at 7:01. Just three minutes later, a poorly executed line change by the Kings, begat a 2 on 1 break for the Preds. It took a terrific defensive play by Rob Scuderi as David Legwand tried to pass across to a wide open Wilson. Thanks to Scuds, the pass never made it across. Three minutes later, the inevitable could not be avoided. Justin Williams took a defensive zone roughing penalty at 12:57. The faceoff remained in the Kings' zone. Just five seconds later, Wilson was slamming home the rebound of a Shea Weber slapshot. When the period ended, Nashville had scored two goals on only 5 shots. In fact, the Kings outshot their opponent 20-5 in the period, but saw a 1-0 deficit become a 3-0 deficit.
The third period, Nashville pretty much put on a clinic in how to play suffocating defense. They brought home the 3-0 shutout win, by holding the Kings to only 4 shots on goal, while getting only 2 of their own.
When a team scores 3 goals on only 14 shots, it is tempting to blame the goaltender. Such was not the case tonight. Quick played a strong game, but really had no chance on any of the 3 goals. Nashville got fewer shots, but more scoring chances, Los Angeles got significantly more shots, but very few legit chances to score.
Final score: Predators 3, Kings 2
Shots on goal: Kings 32, Predators 14
Power Play: Kings 0-3, Predators 1-3
The Kings are now 1-2 on the current road trip. They will have 2 days off before playing in Detroit on Sunday morning, and St. Louis on Monday night to end the five game trip.
This was Pekka Rinne's first shutout of the season.
Kings are now 3-4-2. They are in a 4-way tie with Calgary, Colorado, and Columbus, for fewest total points in the Western Conference.
3 Stars of the game:
#1 - Pekka Rinne (Nashville)
#2 - Colin Wilson (Nashville)
#3 - Gabriel Bourque (Nashville)
Kings line combinations:
Kopitar/Williams/Brown
Richards/Gagne/Carter
Stoll/Lewis/King
Fraser/Clifford/Nolan
Defense pairings:
Doughty/Scuderi
Martinez/Voynov
Muzzin/Drewiske
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Contact Charles:
Email - Charles@Officialinsidesports.com
Twitter - @TheInsideSports
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