Kings fall to Nashville Predators in ninth round of shootout
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NASHVILLE — Ozzy Wiesblatt scored in the ninth round of the shootout and the Nashville Predators beat the Kings 5-4 on Saturday night.
Ryan O’Reilly had two goals and an assist, Filip Forsberg added a goal and an assist, and Cole Smith also scored for the Predators in their second straight win. Juuse Saros made 36 saves in regulation and overtime.
Joel Armia had a goal and an assist. Adrian Kempe, Corey Perry and Trevor Moore also scored, and Darcy Kuemper made 21 saves in regulation and overtime for the Kings, whose two-game winning streak ended. The Kings have played beyond regulation in four straight and six of nine this season.
Adrian Kempe scored just 37 seconds into overtime to lift the Kings past the struggling Dallas Stars.
After Wiesblatt, who has yet to score an NHL goal, beat Kuemper for his first career shootout goal, Saros denied Armia to preserve the Nashville victory in its first shootout this season.
O’Reilly, Forsberg and Erik Haula also scored for the Predators in the tiebreaker, while Kempe, Moore and Kevin Fiala tallied for the Kings.
After the teams traded goals early, the Kings controlled play from the middle of the second period through the conclusion of the game, outshooting Nashville 26-6 in the second and third periods.
Moore gave the Kings a 4-3 lead at 9:50 of the third, but O’Reilly scored his second of the game with 5:16 remaining on Nashville’s second shot of the period to send the game to overtime.
Nashville defenseman Nicolas Hague played his first game with the Predators. Hague, acquired from Vegas in an offseason trade, missed the first eight games of the regular season after being sidelined with a lower-body injury sustained during the preseason. Earlier in the day, the Predators announced that captain Roman Josi is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
Up next for the Kings: at Chicago on Sunday.
