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Arnott's hat trick propels Predators

Dec 23, 2007 - 5:12 AM By Jim Diamond PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) - Jason Arnott's seventh career hat trick led the Nashville Predators to a 4-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night.

The win ended a five-game losing streak for the Predators, but the loss saw the Kings extend their season-long losing streak to seven games.

Arnott scored the game's first goal at 2:34 of the opening period.

Nashville's Jordin Tootoo carried the puck into the Los Angeles zone on a 2-on-1 with Arnott. Tootoo found Arnott in stride in the low slot, and Arnott tipped the puck low to the glove side of goaltender Jason LaBarbera.

"He (Tootoo) showed great energy and great skill to set me up on the first goal," Arnott said. "He's known for his aggressiveness, but he can also make plays."

"I'm more of a shooter, but the D-man took the angle away from me pretty quickly," Tootoo said. "(Arnott) went to the net hard, and I just tried to get it in front of him."

The Kings tied the game at 1-1 at 11:10 of the first on a goal by Lubomir Visnovsky.

Visnovsky was standing in the high slot when Alexander Frolov sent a pass to him from the left boards. Visnovsky one-timed the puck high to the glove side of goaltender Dan Ellis.

Patrick O'Sullivan gave the Kings a 2-1 lead at 10:23 of the second period with a shorthanded goal.

O'Sullivan forced a turnover by David Legwand at the Nashville blue line. O'Sullivan carried the puck in on a breakaway and beat Ellis low to the glove side.

Defenseman Ryan Suter tied the game at 2-2 at 12:43 of the second on a one-timer from the top of the right circle.

Arnott's second goal of the game regained the lead for the Predators.

With Nashville on the power play, Arnott carried the puck in on the left side. His wrist shot from the left faceoff dot snuck inside the right post, giving the Predator captain his 11th goal of the season.

Arnott completed the hat trick at 3:04 of the third period.

From on top of the right faceoff circle, Legwand found Arnott in the lower part of the left circle. Arnott's one-timer from the tough angle banked into the net off of the right skate of LaBarbera.

"It was a solid team effort and a huge win for us tonight," Arnott said. "It's nice to get the hat trick, but the win is even bigger. If we would have lost, it would have been pretty devastating."

"'Arny' was great tonight," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "Tonight he knew this game was really important for us, and he gets a hat trick for us. That's a pretty good way to lead a hockey team."

O'Sullivan's second game of the night came at 11:07 of the third.

Rob Blake's shot from the left point his traffic in front and the puck fell right on O'Sullivan's stick in the right circle, where he converted into the vacated net for his ninth of the season.

"I felt good tonight," O'Sullivan said. "I tried to skate as much as I could and tried to create some offense."

LaBarbera made 28 saves in a losing effort.

"We played hard, but we just didn't get the win," LaBarbera said. "When you break it down, it was the power play. They had two power-play goals."