O'Reilly scores twice, Predators edge Kings in shootout

NASHVILLE -- Ryan O'Reilly had two goals and an assist, and the Nashville Predators rallied to a 5-4 shootout win against the Los Angeles Kings at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday.

Ozzy Wiesblatt scored the deciding goal in the ninth round of the shootout, beating Darcy Kuemper glove side with a wrist shot. His goal came before Juuse Saros stopped Joel Armia to secure the victory.

Filip Forsberg had a goal and an assist for the Predators (4-3-2), who have won two straight games. Saros made 36 saves.

“I thought we stuck with it,” O’Reilly said. “That goal was obviously a little frustrating late in the game. You give up one and you can kind of just see, kind of even in the building, the life come out of it. But we talked on the bench, stick with it. Keep going. Stay with it. It’s not pretty, and we did. We just kind of kept our heads down and kept working.”

Armia had a goal and an assist for the Kings (3-3-3), who extended their point streak to four games (2-0-2). Kuemper made 21 saves.

“We have to be able to close out that game,” Kings coach Jim Hiller said. “That’s our calling card, right? We didn’t give them much in the second half, but we gave them rush chances, 2-on-0, a breakaway. So the quality of chances are uncharacteristic of what we typically give. When you do that, you usually get burned.”

Adrian Kempe gave the Kings a 1-0 lead at 7:27 of the first period on a wrist shot from the slot.

“When you look at the whole 65 minutes, I think we were the better team,” Kings defenseman Brandt Clarke said. “We possessed the puck more. We kind of played the way we wanted to play, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. You can’t break down.”

O’Reilly evened the score 1-1 at 9:00 when he slid a rebound from a Spencer Stastney shot that was sitting in the crease over the goal line.

“[O’Reilly] is pretty amazing,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “We’re really grateful we have him. He’s kind of the heartbeat of what we do. His positivity even when we’re down, it’s such a big factor for our group. He brings it. He’s kind of automatic on those shootout goals. He willed himself, him and [Forsberg] willed us to get back in the game.”

Forsberg put the Predators back up 2-1 36 seconds into the second period on a 2-on-0 rush with Matthew Wood.

Armia tied the game 2-2 at 1:35 when his pass to the front of the net banked in off Predators defenseman Adam Wilsby’s skate.

Corey Perry gave the Kings a 3-2 lead at 5:24, chipping a pass from Armia past Saros' left skate while on a 2-on-1 rush.

Cole Smith tied it 3-3 at 7:12 with a wrist shot from the slot after dangling around Kings defensemen Drew Doughty and Joel Edmundson.

Trevor Moore gave the Kings a 4-3 lead at 9:50 of the third period when he buried the rebound of a shot from the point by Clarke.

“I thought we were working hard and winning a lot of battles, which was great,” Moore said. “Obviously, shout out to [Armia and Perry] for getting [Nashville] tired, forcing an icing and then getting us out there.”

O'Reilly tied the game 4-4 at 14:44 on a one-timer from the left face-off circle on a pass from Forsberg.

“I’m getting some lucky bounces, that’s for sure,” O’Reilly said. “A couple of goals aren’t pretty. You’re just kind of throwing them at the net, and it’s going in for me. It’s nice, yeah, at a time where we need it now.”

NOTES: Kings forward Anze Kopitar returned to the lineup after missing the past four games because of a foot injury. He finished with four shots in 19:57 of ice time. ... Perry has two goals in three games since returning to the lineup from a knee injury. He is also the first player in Kings history to score in consecutive games as a 40-year-old. … Predators defenseman Roman Josi did not play and is week-to-week because of an upper-body injury. Predators defenseman Brady Skjei played in his 700th NHL game. ... Nashville forward Jonathan Marchessault returned to the lineup after missing three games with a lower-body injury. He had two shots on goal in 19:23 of ice time. ... Defenseman Nicolas Hague recorded one assist, one shot and one block in 21:11 of ice time in his debut with the Predators. He missed the start of the season after sustaining an upper-body injury during the preseason.