Kings 2 - 1 Predators
Final - 2OT
  for this game

Preds cap homestand against Kings

Oct 17, 2013 - 3:09 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Nashville Predators aim to close out their homestand with a third straight victory on Thursday night as they play host to the Los Angeles Kings.

The Preds have won three of four on their five-game residency and are coming off Tuesday's 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers. Craig Smith and Patric Hornqvist both scored in the third period, while Pekka Rinne made 22 saves.

Smith, Shea Weber and Mike Fisher all had a goal and an assist for the Preds, who opened the season with consecutive road losses.

Weber scored the lone tally of the first period, just the second time Nashville has scored the first goal of the game.

"That's huge when you have a goaltender like Pekka because you give him a lead that gives him a lot to work with," said Weber. "Still, we have to get better at the defensive end because we let them get too many chances tonight."

The Kings wrap a four-game road trip tonight having had a three-game win streak halted with Tuesday's 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Jonathan Quick yielded a goal 19 seconds into the game and was pulled late in the second period after allowing his third goal on 17 shots. Ben Scrivens relived him and gave up a pair of tallies on eight shots faced.

Defenseman Slava Voynov prevented the Kings from getting shut out as he scored his first goal of the season 10:27 into the third frame.

"You can't give up Grade-A chances like we did tonight," said Kings defenseman Matt Greene.

The Predators won two of three versus the Kings last season, notching a 3-0 win in the lone meeting in Nashville. Rinne logged a 26-save shutout and is 7-6-0 with a 2.88 goals against average in 13 career meetings with the Kings.

Quick is just 1-5-2 with a 2.85 GAA in eight games versus the Preds, while Scrivens has faced them once before. He took a loss while with Toronto on Nov. 17, 2011, yielding three goals on 21 shots faced.






Related News