Predators 4, Kings 2
Associated Press

Photos: Predators 4, Kings 2
Video: Game Highlights  
Video: Goc Post-Game 
Video: Coach Trotz Post-Game 
Tickets: March 7 vs.Canucks *
      (Note: Mar. 7 is a 2 pm CT start)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -The surging Los Angeles Kings still haven't found a way to beat the Nashville Predators.

J.P. Dumont, Jason Arnott, Marcel Goc and Jerred Smithson scored, and Pekka Rinne made 20 saves in the Predators' 4-2 victory over the Kings on Thursday night.

The victory was Nashville's sixth in a row over Los Angeles, which has won 11 of its last 14 games. Martin Erat had two assists for the Predators.

Alexander Frolov and Drew Doughty scored for Los Angeles.

"L.A. was 11-1-1, and they had been the hottest team in the National Hockey League," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "They play a very structured game, and they are very well coached."

Frolov opened the scoring 54 seconds into the game.

Jarret Stoll won a faceoff against Nashville's Goc. Frolov picked up the puck, split a pair of Predators and beat Rinne with a backhander to the stick side.

Dumont tied it for Nashville at 4:32 of the first.

Steve Sullivan shot the puck into the Los Angeles zone on the left side. As the puck rimmed around the boards, Quick left his crease to play the puck behind the goal. The puck caromed off Quick's stick and landed right in front of the vacated net, where Dumont had an easy tap-in for his 12th goal of the season.

"It was just a tough bounce," Quick said.

Kings coach Terry Murray said that goal was the difference.

"From that point, we did not regain our composure to play the game the proper way," he said. "It just became easy for them."

Arnott struck at 13:09 of the second. From behind the Nashville goal, Erat slid a pass through the crease to Arnott on the left side and his one-timer beat Quick on the short side.

"It was huge," Arnott said. "We had a lot of power-play opportunities, and we were moving the pick around really well."

"We made a little mistake there, and they capitalized," Doughty said. "It was a great shot by Arnott off of a great pass from Erat."

Goc gave Nashville a 3-1 lead at 2:30. In the left corner of the Los Angeles zone, Erat found Goc in the low slot with a blind backhand pass. Goc's wrist shot beat Quick on the stick side.

Doughty pulled the Kings within one at 6:40 of the third on a power play.

With Los Angeles on a 4-on-3 advantage, Anze Kopitar's pass from the right side deflected off of Ryan Smyth in front of the goal and found Doughty all alone on the left side. Smyth's assist was his 700th career NHL point.

Smithson's empty-net goal capped the scoring.

"I'll be honest, I was not trying to put that puck in the net," Smithson said. "I wanted to just chip it out to the far blue line, and I got a little too much of it."

NOTES: Nashville C Dustin Boyd, acquired in a trade from Calgary on Wednesday, will join the team Friday in Detroit ... Erat has 11 points in his last six games against Los Angeles.


Three star selections
1st:   JASON ARNOTT
2nd:   MARTIN ERAT
3rd:   ALEXANDER FROLOV
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

 


nashvillepredators.com is the official Web site of the Nashville Predators and nashvillepredators.com are trademarks of the Nashville Predators.  NHL, the NHL Shield, the word mark and image of the Stanley Cup and NHL Conference logos are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. All NHL logos and marks and NHL team logos and marks as well as all other proprietary materials depicted herein are the property of the NHL and the respective NHL teams and may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of NHL Enterprises, L.P. Copyright © 1999-2013 Nashville Predators and the National Hockey League. All Rights Reserved.

NHL Ticket Exchange | Bridgestone Arena | Contact Us | Employment | NHL.com Terms of Use | Site Map | AdChoices