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Frolov nets pair as Kings crown Predators

Mar 14, 2008 - 3:40 AM By Jim Diamond PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) - The Nashville Predators' fading hopes for a playoff berth took another hit on Thursday when they dropped a 4-1 decision to the lowly Los Angeles Kings.

Alexander Frolov scored twice, Dustin Brown and Matt Ellis also tallied for Los Angeles, which improved to 2-4-3 in its last nine games.

J.P. Dumont scored the lone goal for Nashville, which lost its third straight and fourth of its last five games.

Dumont broke a scoreless tie at 8:50 of the second period with his 27th goal of the season.

Alexander Radulov and Dumont skated into the Los Angeles zone on a 2-on-1 rush against defenseman Rob Blake. Radulov pulled up in the right circle and sent a wrist shot on goal. Rookie goaltender Erik Ersberg denied Radulov, but the rebound came to Dumont, who easily deposited the puck into the net to give Nashville a 1-0 lead.

"Any loss is tough, but this is one you figure you've got to have," Dumont said. "We put ourselves in a position to where we had control of our destiny and we came up short and that is not acceptable."

Ersberg was sharp the remainder of the game, ending the game with 37 saves - 18 of which came in the third period.

"I felt good out there tonight," Ersberg said. "My defense did a really good job, so I saw pretty much every shot."

"I thought Erik was really strong in net tonight," Los Angeles coach Marc Crawford said. "We also had the commitment of guys to block shots, be in lanes and battle in front of the net, and I thought we got that all night long."

Frolov leveled the contest with 77 seconds remaining in the second period on a power-play goal.

From the right boards, Derek Armstrong sent a cross-ice pass to Frolov in the left circle. Frolov drove to the net, and his wrist shot beat goaltender Dan Ellis between the pads.

"The puck was rolling on me, so I put it on my forehand and tried to put it on net," Frolov said.

Brown gave the Kings a 2-1 lead at 5:02 of the third period.

All-Star Anze Kopitar won a faceoff back to defenseman Tom Preissing at the right point. Preissing quickly fed blue-liner Kevin Dallman, who fired a slap shot that Brown tipped over Ellis' glove for his 30th goal of the season.

"The Kings are lower in the standings, but they're a team that is playing with a lot of pride and want to end the season on a good note," Ellis said. "There are a lot of teams in the league that are only a couple of points out, and they're only a hot streak away from putting themselves back in the playoff mix."

Frolov's second goal came at 10:23 of the third period when he redirected a Lubomir Visnovsky shot from the left point.

"When you go to the net, you can usually tip the puck," Frolov said. "Lubomir made a great shot on net, and it pretty much just hit my stick."

Ellis added an empty-net tally with 1:53 remaining in the third period to seal the win.

"We have been in this situation, and we knew that they were going to come and play their hardest, because there is not a better feeling than when you're not in the race and are able to really disrupt or anger the other teams in terms of their playoff hopes," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "They deserved the win tonight, and I thought their goaltender played well."