Predators 4, Kings 3, OT
Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -The Nashville Predators took another step toward their fifth consecutive playoff appearance.

Steve Sullivan's power-play goal 4:41 into overtime gave the Predators a 4-3 comeback win over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night.

Sullivan scored with a one-timer from the left faceoff dot off a pass from Ryan Suter.

"It was just a matter of trying to get open, and (Suter) made a great pass," Sullivan said. "We're in a dogfight for the playoffs, we needed two points, and we knew it."

Nashville had tied it 2-2 on Joel Ward's short-handed goal at 7:05 of the third period. All-Star defenseman Shea Weber gave the Predators their first lead 5:18 later.

"It's not exactly what we wanted, giving up a late goal, but we persevered and got the win," Weber said.

Sullivan's assist on Weber's goal gave the 34-year-old winger 600 career points.

Jack Johnson forced overtime by scoring the Kings' final goal with 1:04 left.

"We're not going to quit just because things don't look good for the playoffs," Johnson said. "We had guys going to the net, and I was just trying to get a shot through and give them a chance to get a rebound."

Los Angeles is far outside the Western playoff race.

"I really like what we have been doing in third periods lately," Kings coach Terry Murray said. "We've been battling, finding ways to win games, to tie up games to get them to an overtime situation, and tonight was another example of that."

Nashville moved up to seventh place in the Western Conference, one point ahead of the idle Edmonton Oilers. Of the Predators' seven remaining games, five are on the road, and all but one of their opponents appears headed for the postseason.

The Predators are 4-0-3 in their last seven games. The last six have been decided by one goal.

"It's taxing our nerves, it's taxing our resiliency, and it's taxing our character a little bit lately," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "It has been a rough week. We have played three games in five nights, and they have all been emotionally draining in one way or another."

Brian Boyle staked the Kings to a 1-0 lead 7:00 into the first period. Boyle stripped Weber of the puck behind the net and beat goalie Pekka Rinne on the short side with a wrist shot along the ice.

"It was nice since I had a little bit of nerves coming in, so it was good to help out right away," Boyle said. "I think it deflected off of something and it was able to get up over his pad."

Boyle was recalled Friday from Manchester of the American Hockey League after Jarret Stoll was injured Thursday at Dallas.

Nashville tied it with 5:36 left in the period on Cal O'Reilly's first NHL goal.

O'Reilly intercepted Brad Richardson's pass inside the Kings zone and sent the puck to Sullivan at the right dot. Sullivan returned the puck to O'Reilly in the high slot, where his one-timer beat Jonathan Quick on the glove side.

The Kings regained the lead at 8:56 of the second on Matt Greene's first goal in 44 games.

Ward's tying, short-handed goal came at the end of a 2-on-1 off a pass from Martin Erat, who had a career-high four assists.

"If you have the chance to create something, you have to take the chance - especially when you are down by one and your playoff lives are at stake," Ward said.

Notes: Los Angeles C Anze Kopitar recorded his 200th career NHL point. ... Quick has started 26 of Los Angeles' last 30 games. ... Erat has a three-game point streak. He earned his 300th NHL point. ... O'Reilly was recalled by Nashville from Milwaukee (AHL) on Thursday after C David Legwand was injured in Wednesday's practice. ... Nashville swept the season series 4-0.


Three star selections
1st:   STEVE SULLIVAN
2nd:   MARTIN ERAT
3rd:   JACK JOHNSON
Winning Goaltender
Pekka Rinne

Losing Goaltender
Jonathan Quick

SCHEDULE

HOME
AWAY
PROMOTIONAL

STANDINGS

WESTERN CONFERENCE
  TEAM GP W L OT GF GA PTS
1 p - CHI 48 36 7 5 155 102 77
2 y - ANA 48 30 12 6 140 118 66
3 y - VAN 48 26 15 7 127 121 59
4 x - STL 48 29 17 2 129 115 60
5 x - LAK 48 27 16 5 133 118 59
6 x - SJS 48 25 16 7 124 116 57
7 x - DET 48 24 16 8 124 115 56
8 x - MIN 48 26 19 3 122 127 55
9 CBJ 48 24 17 7 120 119 55
10 PHX 48 21 18 9 125 131 51
11 DAL 48 22 22 4 130 142 48
12 EDM 48 19 22 7 125 134 45
13 CGY 48 19 25 4 128 160 42
14 NSH 48 16 23 9 111 139 41
15 COL 48 16 25 7 116 152 39

STATS

2012-2013 REGULAR SEASON
SKATERS: GP G A +/- Pts
S. Weber 48 9 19 -2 28
D. Legwand 48 12 13 -6 25
M. Fisher 38 10 11 6 21
C. Wilson 25 7 12 1 19
R. Josi 48 5 13 -7 18
G. Bourque 34 11 5 6 16
S. Kostitsyn 46 3 12 -5 15
P. Hornqvist 24 4 10 -1 14
K. Klein 47 3 11 -1 14
N. Spaling 47 9 4 -10 13
 
GOALIES: W L OT Sv% GAA
P. Rinne 15 16 8 .910 2.43
C. Mason 1 7 1 .873 3.73

 


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