Fri. Sep 27th, 2024
Occasional Digest - a story for you

Matt Duchene scored in the second round of the shootout, and the Nashville Predators ended the Kings’ five-game winning streak with a 2-1 victory Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena.

Duchene, who scored his 27th shootout goal in 71 chances, put a shot between Pheonix Copley’s legs for the only score in the tiebreaker.

Tommy Novak scored for the Predators, and Kevin Lankinen made 26 saves.

Mikey Anderson had the Kings’ goal, and Copley stopped 30 shots.

Anderson opened the scoring at 9:32 of the first period when he took the pass from Gabriel Vilardi in the slot and beat Lankinen on his glove side with a snap shot. It was the defenseman’s fourth goal of the season and second in the last three games.

Nashville evened it on the power play with 55.2 seconds remaining in the first when Novak scored from high in the slot while Copley was being screened. The goal made Novak the sixth Nashville player with 10 or more goals this season.

Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson (44) scores past Predators goaltender Kevin Lankinen during the first period March 11, 2023.
Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson (44) scores past Predators goalie Kevin Lankinen during the first period.

(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)

It also was the Predators’ 10th power-play goal since Feb. 18, which is third in the NHL.

Nashville’s Philip Tomasino had the best opportunity in overtime but whiffed on the shot in front of the net.

Trainer’s room

Kings forward Kevin Fiala missed the game because of a lower-body injury. Fiala, who leads the Kings with 68 points, left Thursday’s game at Colorado after a knee-on-knee hit from Andrew Cogliano.

Up next

Predators: At Ducks on Sunday night.

Kings: Host the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.

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