Preds Conclude Back-to-Back Set with Loss to Kings

Philip Tomasino scored the lone Nashville goal as the Predators fell to the Los Angeles Kings by a 6-1 final on Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena. The result gives the Preds a split of their back-to-back set in Southern California after beating the Ducks on Monday.
Predators Captain Roman Josi extended his point streak to 11 games in the loss, and although the visitors say there are still positives to take, a tough start ultimately led to the result.

"Going down by three goals in the first period, it's not the best start, obviously," Preds forward Mikael Granlund said. "We got outplayed in the first period, so all the credit for them. They were really coming after us, and then we cut the lead, but we've got to find a way to do a better job in the beginning of the game."
"The first period probably cost us the game," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said. "On a positive side with the group, I really liked our pushback. We stayed with it, I think the guys made some adjustments that we had talked about and I liked our competitiveness as the game continued to go on… There's certainly some things to take out of the game, and I give the guys credit for battling back and trying to make it a game, but we have to make sure the start doesn't happen again."
The Kings were the better team immediately following the opening puck drop on Tuesday, and they found themselves up 3-0 on the Preds after 20 minutes with goals from Adrian Kempe, Arthur Kaliyev and Trevor Moore.

Tomasino got Nashville on the board early in the second stanza when he batted a shot past Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick from the right side of the cage to cut the L.A. lead to 3-1, but the Kings added three more in the final frame before the night was out.
Now, Nashville will travel to Vegas for a date with the Golden Knights on Thursday as the postseason race continues, and the Predators believe they will be able to respond - as they usually do - after an unfavorable result.
"The first period didn't go the way we wanted, but the game is there," Granlund said. "We all know the identity we have and what we need to do to win a hockey game, so we're going to have a chance to win every single game against anyone. We all know that, but we've got to prepare ourselves to be at our best, and that's all we can do. But like I said, this team has the chance to outplay any team in this League."
"That's part of being a mentally tough group - over the course of 82 games, you're going to have some really good games and you're going to have some tough losses," Hynes said. "You're going to have bad games, and there's all kinds of different things you have to go through. But that's part of the journey of an 82-game schedule, and it's important to take each game at a time, have an assessment, not get too high, not get too low and make sure that you come back and you refocus on the next night. We've got to make sure that we're ready to go against Vegas, and I'm confident we will be."

Notes:

Roman Josi recorded his 60th assist of the season (18g-60a-78pts in 62 GP). He required the fewest games by a defenseman to reach the mark since Sergei Zubov (61 GP in 1993-94 with NY Rangers).
Josi became the fifth different defenseman in the last 25 years to record 60 assists in a season, joining John Carlson (2019-20 with Washington), Brent Burns (2018-19 with San Jose), Erik Karlsson (2015-16 with Ottawa) and Nicklas Lidstrom (2007-08 and 2005-06 with Detroit).
Preds defenseman Mattias Ekholm returned to the lineup after missing Monday's game due to illness, but blueliner Date Fabbro did not play and is now week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Defenseman Mark Borowiecki left Tuesday's game with an apparent injury in the second period and did not return.
The Predators will conclude their three-game road trip on Thursday night in Vegas when they take on the Golden Knights before returning home to host Philadelphia on Sunday evening.