Saturday afternoon the Los Angeles Kings hosted the Nashville Predators at Staples Center. The result: a 7-6 overtime victory for the Predators in one of the most outrageous and exciting games the NHL has seen this season.
It’s safe to say, no one saw that coming.
L.A jumped out to the lead early. Very early.
A face-off win by Mike Richards came back to Matt Greene at the point. Green’s wrist-shot beat Predators goalie Pekka Rinne over his glove. It was Greene’s third goal of the season, and it came 38-seconds into the game.
Nashville repeatedly answered back, scoring the next five consecutive goals.
The Predators scored three goals in the first period over a span of 4:49. Goals were scored by Mike Fisher, Colin Wilson, and on the power-play, Ryan Ellis.
Nov 25, 2014; Nashville, TN, USA; Los Angeles Kings goalie Martin Jones (31) watches as the puck moves across the crease during the third period against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
At that point, Kings head coach Darryl Sutter decided to pull goaltender Jonathan Quick and replace him with Martin Jones.
In 9:43 of game time Quick stopped 6-of-9 shots, allowed 1 power-play goal, and posted a .667 save percentage. Very un-Quick of him.
In the first four minutes of the second period Mattias Ekholm and Mark Arcobello added goals, 1:41 apart.
A let-down period of 6:30 cost the Kings five goals against. Defense wins with diligence.
Things looked pretty dire for the Kings. L.A. was down 5-1 with 16-minutes left in the second period. Not too many teams can come back under those circumstances.
L.A.’s Alec Martinez ended the flurry of Predator scoring by netting one to revive the Kings.
Just as Nashville’s penalty to Olli Jokinen expired, Kings defensmen Jamie McBain took a shot on the Predators goal. The rebound came out to Martinez at the point. Martinez let a slap-shot go, and through traffic beat Rinne on the short side.
Before the second period ended Dwight King scored his second goal in consecutive games. King deflected a Jake Muzzin shot past Rinne to pull the Kings within two goals heading into the third period.
“Nobody came in prepared to play a good team in our conference,” King said of L.A.’s early performance. “ are right at the top for a reason. It took us awhile to get into the game, and when you are doing that against a good team it’s tough to find ways to win.”
Puck Prose
Olli Jokinen made up for his penalty, scoring nine-minutes into the third period to reestablish Nashville’s three-goal lead.
The Kings were silent until the last two minutes of the game. Then, with 2:01 left in the game Dwight King got his second of the night starting the rally.
Over the next 1:27 the Kings lit the lamp three times to tie the game.
Marian Gaborik scored his 12th of the season, tying the Kings lead in goals, and Jeff Carter scored his 11th. Gaborik deflected a point shot from Martinez into the top corner of the net over Rinne’s shoulder. Carter snapped a one-timer from the low-slot by the circle, on a feed from Anze Kopitar. Carter’s goal came with 34-seconds left in regulation; exactly 30 seconds after Gaborik’s goal.
It’s the second time in two games the Kings have erased a two goal deficit.
Unfortunately the magic didn’t hold out. 18-seconds into the overtime period Nashville’s rookie sensation Filip Forsberg brought the puck into the Kings zone, cut back along the boards and passed it to Roman Josi at the center of the ice by the blue line. Josi was wide open, skated into the slot unmolested and snapped a wrist-shot past Jones to end the game: 7-6 Nashville.
The Predators were 1-for-2 on the power-play, the Kings went 0-for-3.
It was a valiant effort to come back, but the Kings came up short. Not playing a full 60-minutes, and letting up for two or three five-minute periods cost L.A. the game.
L.A.’s next game is at Staples Center against the New York Rangers on Thursday, December 8th at 7:30 p.m. PST.
Nov 25, 2014; Nashville, TN, USA; Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne (35) looks through traffic during the third period against the Los Angeles Kings at Bridgestone Arena. The Predators won in a shoot out 4-3. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports