They needed an eight-round shootout, but in the biggest game of the season thus far, the Predators prevailed.
Luke Evangelista recorded the winner in the extra session, and Nashville defeated the Los Angeles Kings by a 5-4 final on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena. The result sees the Preds snap a three-game skid and pull back even with the Kings at 79 points apiece in the Wild Card race in the Western Conference.
Filip Forsberg, Zach L’Heureux, Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos all tallied in regulation for Nashville, and Juuse Saros made 29 saves through 65 minutes before turning aside all eight Kings skaters in the shootout to earn a massive extra point to start a season defining five-game trip.
“I thought we started the game extremely well, kind of jumped on a team that played last night, and that was in our favor throughout the first half of the game, for sure,” Stamkos said. “We executed our game plan, got out to the lead, and then we’ve got a few things to sort out. I think some of the rush chances were avoidable, but, at this time of the year, it's about getting points, and we gained a point on a team that we are chasing. We'll certainly take it, but I thought for the most part, pretty good.”
“I thought it was as close as we're going to get to a playoff game this time of year - and had all the momentum swings of one,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “I really liked our start… We made a few errors, probably off the rush, and it's hockey this time of year. I'm really proud of the guys. I thought they stayed within themselves, they stayed to the game plan, they stayed poised and calm in some hectic water. In the shootout, ‘Little Juice’ made some unbelievable saves and ‘Vange’ with a beautiful goal. So, a lot of good things. [I’d] like to have left [the game] with no overtime, but we'll take it.”
L’Heureux appeared to have scored just 18 seconds into the contest, but the play was waved off due to the puck being batted in with a high stick. However, on the game’s second shift, Forsberg’s goal very much counted to give the Preds a 1-0 lead. Just minutes later, L’Heureux got one of his own to go with a slick move in tight to the backhand and a 2-0 Nashville lead through 20 minutes.
The Predators went up by three early in the second stanza when Marchessault beat Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper, and after L.A. got on the board, Ryan O’Reilly found Stamkos for Nashville’s fourth of the night.
“It was a perfect start - road game, jump on the team early, it felt like things were going pretty good there,” Stamkos said. “Then it's just little details where a couple rush chances that gave them some life. Obviously the crowd gets into it, and they get going a little bit, but we stayed calm. ‘Juice’ was a wall in the shootout, and ‘Vange’ with an unbelievable move. And like I said, you gain a point. We're all about gaining points right now.”
But the Kings didn't go away, and they beat Saros two more times before the middle frame was out before tying the game at 4-4 midway through the final period. After overtime solved nothing, Evangelista was the only one of 16 total participants to find twine, and the Preds quickly mobbed the winger and their goaltender to celebrate a victory in the biggest game of the season.
“That's playoff hockey - we faced adversity, momentum swings; our game had a little bit of everything, and I liked our start,” Evangelista said. “They clawed their way back, but we stayed calm, we stayed poised, and found a way to get two points. That's huge this time of the year, so I really like how we responded.”
The five-game trip is off to a positive start, but the work has just begun. Following Thursday’s results, the Preds, Kings and San Jose Sharks all have 79 points apiece, and Nashville's next two games come against those two foes.
Talk about controlling one’s own destiny.
“We're facing a bunch this trip - all teams that we're battling against, competing against for this playoff spot,” Evangelista said. “To get started with the win there, that's huge for us. But we’ve got to keep building these. These are huge games for us, so the job is not done yet.”
“I think we've been through a lot as a group, and we're just happy to be here, and we're enjoying the moment,” Brunette said. “We're growing as a team. I think this team is an extremely tight group, I think because of everything they went through, and we're just enjoying the moment. We’re enjoying playing meaningful games this time of year. We're just going to keep pushing. Nobody expected us to be here, and we'll just keep being us here down the stretch.”
Notes:
The Predators kept the same collection of players in the lineup on Thursday with Ryan Ufko and Ozzy Wiesblatt serving as healthy scratches.
Per NHL PR, Filip 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 (6 GP in 2014-15 & 5 GP in 2019-20) and Gabriel Bourque (5 GP in 2012-13).
Nashville’s five-game trip out west continues on Saturday night in San Jose against the Sharks before returning to Los Angeles to play the Kings once more on Monday.
