Los Angeles is one point ahead of Nashville, which would own the tiebreaker if the two were tied, and two points ahead of the San Jose Sharks, who have a game in hand.
Joel Armia and Scott Laughton scored for the Kings (32-26-19), who are 3-0-1 in their past four and have won consecutive games for the first time since a three-game winning streak from Jan. 20-27.
Steven Stamkos scored for the third straight game, Roman Josi had a goal and an assist, and Juuse Saros made 26 saves for the Predators (36-31-10), who had won two in a row.
Armia put the Kings up 1-0 at 5:36 of the first period on a wrist shot from the left circle.
Stamkos tied it 1-1 at 4:29 of the second period with a one-timer from the left circle off a cross-slot saucer pass from Ryan O’Reilly during a 5-on-3 power play.
Laughton put the Kings back in front 2-1 at 13:57. Jared Wright entered the zone with speed and took the puck down to the goal line, where he then found Laughton at the top of the right crease for a quick wrist shot.
Josi tied it 2-2 at 4:18 of the third period. Filip Forsberg's one-timer went wide of the net and caromed off the end boards into the left circle, where Josi one-timed it under the left pad of Anton Forsberg.
Predators defenseman Nicolas Hague did not play and is day to day because of an upper-body injury he sustained in a 6-3 win at the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
