Predators recover, top Kings in 8-round shootout to gain in West wild-card race

LOS ANGELES -- The Nashville Predators recovered from blowing a three-goal lead for a 5-4 shootout win against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Thursday.

Luke Evangelista scored lone goal of the shootout in the eighth round, beating a sprawling Darcy Kuemper with a backhander over the right pad.

“At this time of the year, it’s about getting points, and we gained a point on a team that we are chasing, so we’ll certainly take it,” Nashville forward Steven Stamkos said.

Jonathan Marchessault had a goal and an assist, and Filip Forsberg, Zachary L'Heureux and Stamkos scored for the Predators (35-31-9), who had lost three straight after a five-game winning streak. Juuse Saros made 29 saves.

Nashville is tied in points with the San Jose Sharks and Los Angeles for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, with the Sharks having played one fewer game than both.

“It certainly has an elevated feel,” Stamkos said. “I mean, I don’t know if really anything can replicate a playoff game, but it’s as close as you’re going to get for regular season in terms of two teams that are playing for their playoff lives.”

This was the first game of a five-game swing on the West Coast for the Predators, who face the Sharks on Saturday before returning here to face Los Angeles again on Monday.

“We knew this was our season on the line here on this road trip, so got the win and great start,” Stamkos said.

Adrian Kempe scored twice, and Joel Armia had a goal and an assist for the Kings (30-26-19), who are 2-3-4 in their past nine. Kuemper made 30 saves.

“It was a tale of two games completely,” Los Angeles interim coach D.J. Smith said. “They dominated the first half, and I thought we took it to them in the second half.”

Nashville nearly capitalized early following a pregame ceremony honoring Kings captain Anze Kopitar for becoming the franchise's all-time points leader, having broken Marcel Dionne’s record of 1,307 on March 14.

L’Heureux appeared to give the Predators a 1-0 lead just 18 seconds into the first period. Officials determined he hit the puck with a high stick before it went into the net and video review confirmed the call on the ice of no goal.

Forsberg did put Nashville up 1-0 at 52 seconds, putting a sharp-angle wrist shot on net from the left corner that snuck under Kuemper's right pad.

L'Heureux made it 2-0 at 3:47 after Brady Skjei's shot from the left point deflected off Los Angeles defenseman Brandt Clarke in front. L'Heureux gathered the puck and tucked it around Kuemper into an open net after a forehand-backhand deke.

Predators forward Ryan O'Reilly was awarded a penalty shot at 19:51 because Kuemper threw his stick to try to break up a 2-on-1 short-handed rush after coming out of his crease in an attempt to keep the puck away from Tyson Jost. Kuemper then stopped O’Reilly’s attempt with a blocker save.

Marchessault extended the lead to 3-0 at 2:02 of the second period. Matthew Wood sent a shot on net and the rebound bounced into the right face-off circle, where Marchessault lifted it to the glove side.

Kempe cut the deficit to 3-1 at 6:09. Artemi Panarin put a shot on net from the right circle as he was falling to the ice, and the puck went off Saros' right pad and then deflected in off the right skate of Kempe as he fell in the crease.

Stamkos pushed it to 4-1 at 8:19, taking a feed from O'Reilly and finishing a short 2-on-1 rush that was started off a stretch pass from Roman Josi.

The Kings then scored three unanswered goals to tie the game.

Kempe scored his 30th of the season to trim the lead to 4-2 at 13:29. Joel Edmundson's shot deflected off the right leg of Nashville defenseman Justin Barron to Kempe in the slot, where he snapped the puck past Saros' blocker.

Scott Laughton brought Los Angeles to within 4-3 at 15:45 when he buried the rebound from Armia's initial shot from between the circles over the stick of Saros from the bottom of the left circle.

Armia tied it 4-4 at 9:57 of the third period. Jared Wright's shot trickled through the pads of Saros and rolled into the crease, where Armia pounced on it to score into an open net for his first goal in 18 games.

“I mean, that’s playoff hockey, you know,” Evangelista said. “We face adversity, momentum swings. That game had a little bit of everything. I liked our start. Obviously, they clawed their way back, but we stayed calm, stayed poised, and, yeah, found a way to get two points.”

NOTES: Forsberg extended his road goal streak to four games, tied for the fourth-longest run in Predators history. The three longest road goal streaks in franchise history are by Forsberg (six games in 2014-15 and five games in 2019-20) and Gabriel Bourque (five games in 2012-13). ... The Kings matched the 2003-04 Bruins for the most games in a single season requiring overtime (30). ... Kempe extended his goal streak to three games (four goals) and extended his point streak to four games (four goals, two assists). ... Los Angeles forward Alex Turcotte was a late scratch with an undisclosed injury.