Kings start fast, then sputter in 4-2 loss to Nashville

Reporting from Nashville — A fast start to Thursday night’s game for the Kings quickly evaporated after goaltender Jonathan Quick misplayed a puck behind his net less than five minutes into the opening period.

With their early momentum lost, the Kings could not recover and suffered a 4-2 loss at the hands of the Nashville Predators.

Nashville has defeated the Kings six consecutive times, and in eight of their last nine meetings. The teams play twice more in March.

The first minute of the game was all Kings. They registered four shots on Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne before the contest was a minute old. Alexander Frolov made that fourth shot count at the 54-second mark of the first.

Jarret Stoll won a draw against Nashville’s Marcel Goc in the right circle. Frolov collected the puck and split Nashville defenders Dan Hamhuis and Kevin Klein before beating Rinne on the stick side with a smooth backhand.

Just more than three and a half minutes later, Quick went behind the goal to play a dump-in by Nashville’s Steve Sullivan, but the puck hit the heel of his goal stick and caromed in front, gift-wrapping a goal for Nashville’s J.P. Dumont and tying the score, 1-1.

“The first goal against is the one that unraveled us,” Kings Coach Terry Murray said. “From that point on, we did not regain our composure to play the game the proper way. That is the one that kicked open the door for them. They fed off the break and just started to do things in the offensive zone.”

Nashville Coach Barry Trotz saw the play in a similar light.

“You look back, and in 20-20 hindsight, the biggest goal for me was the Dumont goal,” he said. “L.A. came out quickly and scored in the first minute. They picked our pocket and we were silenced on the bench. You’re hoping to rev up the crowd, and you’re down, 1-0.”

A despondent Quick was succinct in his assessment of the play.

“It was just a tough bounce,” he said.

Soon thereafter, Quick’s teammates marched in a steady parade to the penalty box. The Kings were whistled for four consecutive penalties, and after several superb kills, Nashville finally converted at 13:09 of the second on a goal by Jason Arnott. The goal by Nashville’s captain came with just two seconds remaining in a Wayne Simmonds hooking penalty.

Martin Erat slid a pass from behind the Kings goal line through the crease to Arnott on the left side. Arnott’s one-timer slipped just between Quick’s right shoulder and his right post.

“It was a great pass, and Arnott took a really good shot,” the Kings’ Anze Kopitar said. “We took some lazy penalties and gave them the momentum.”

Two days after establishing a franchise high for wins by a goaltender in Dallas, Quick found himself out of position again on Goc’s eventual game-winning goal at 2:30 of the third. Late in getting back to his crease from attempting to play a puck behind the net, Quick could not get set in time to stop Goc’s wrist shot from the slot.

Drew Doughty’s power-play goal at 6:40 of the third made the score 3-2, but the Kings were unable to generate an equalizer. Former King Jerred Smithson’s empty-net goal accounted for the final scoring margin.

“We are pretty disappointed as a team with our efforts tonight,” Doughty said. “We were holding back, and that is where we took those penalties.”

Ryan Smyth assisted on Doughty’s goal. The point was the 700th of Smyth’s NHL career.

ETC.

The Kings signed center Brayden Schenn to a three-year entry-level contract Thursday. Schenn, 18, was the Kings first-round pick (fifth overall) in last year’s NHL entry draft. He has played in 54 games this season with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League and leads the club in points (85) and assists (56). He also has a plus-31 rating and six power-play goals.

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