King Trip Ends on a Sour Note

As the Kings winged their way home late Tuesday, they carried with them a missed opportunity.

Gone in a 3-2 loss to Nashville was the chance for a message-sending trip. Lost were almost all the opportunities in a dominating second period. Forgotten were the two previous victories, over lower-echelon teams that the Kings should beat -- Chicago and Columbus.

Adam Hall came from behind the net to sweep in a power-play goal 11 minutes 44 seconds into the third period to give the Predators the lead and spoil the Kings’ return flight.

“We had the opportunity to have a great trip, instead we had a good trip,” said Coach Andy Murray, whose team earned five points on the four-game swing. “It’s not a great trip because we only played good. You have to be great every night in this league. Good isn’t good enough.”

The game seemed to answer the question of how many people in Nashville don’t like country music. About 7,000 showed up in the 17,113-seat Gaylord Events Center on a night that the Country Music Awards show was aired out of New York. Still, those in attendance were given updates on award winners between periods.

The fans who did attend saw a first for this millennium -- a Predator victory over the Kings in Nashville. The last one came on April 3, 1999, the same year Brooks & Dunn were named top vocal duo by the CMA.

Brooks & Dunn won again Tuesday, and so did the Predators.

The Kings’ streak ended at 8-0-3 because the Predators took care of business. They capitalized on half of their power plays, got great goaltending, and held off a King power play the last 2:13 of the game.

“The most frustrating thing about this game was losing this game,” Murray said.

Paul Kariya’s ability to annoy the Kings was part of that frustration. Kariya moved east of the Mississippi River and south of the Mason-Dixon line, but he is still a problem the Kings have yet to map out.

He chipped in a rebound to tie the score, 1-1, 14:24 into the first period. It was his 25th goal against the Kings, the most he has against any NHL team. Kariya helped make it 2-1 by sending a slick pass to the net that Kimmo Timonen tipped in with 28 seconds left in the period.

The Kings controlled the second period, outshooting the Predators, 22-9. All they had to show for it was a Jeff Cowan goal that tied the score at 8:13 of the period.

“We can’t accept games like that,” Jeremy Roenick said. “Everyone is accountable, especially me.”