The Los Angeles Kings look to stay hot when they visit the Nashville Predators on Saturday.
The Kings head into the matchup on a 9-2-1 streak over their past 12 games, a stretch that includes a six-game winning streak from Nov. 27-Dec. 10. They’re 3-1-1 on their current seven-game road trip, which concludes Sunday at the Washington Capitals.
Most recently, Los Angeles is coming off a 7-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday. The Kings trailed by a goal late in the second period before captain Anze Kopitar tied it with 44 seconds remaining before the team rattled off four goals in the third.
“I just think we started the game, maybe the first 10 minutes, playing our game, what we call Kings hockey, and then it was just a matter of whose game were we going to play in the third period and I thought we played our game,” Los Angeles coach Jim Hiller said. “Again, really happy and proud of the guys to be able to come out that way in the third and play our game.”
Kopitar had two goals against the Flyers, snapping a six-game goal drought, giving him five points in his past three games. The 37-year-old leads the team with 37 points (10 goals, 27 assists) and is on pace to surpass his career-high of 92 points set back in 2017-18.
“To be his age and to be to be out there playing against the other team’s best players night after night, and then making an offensive contribution too, while leading the team, I don’t know, that’s really, really difficult to do,” Hiller said. “I know that’s difficult to do at 25, never mind at 37.”
Los Angeles has been getting things done at both ends of the ice during the current run, outscoring the opposition 40-23. They’ve allowed more than three goals only once during that stretch and have held their opponents to two goals or fewer in eight of those games.
The Predators, meanwhile, will aim to rebound after a 5-4 overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.
“Effort was good,” defenseman Brady Skjei said. “Our effort is never the question… The effort’s always there. Obviously disappointing, not getting two points but, again, we did some good things. No question, we took it to them. … Definitely more things we can take from this game to move forward with. And like I said, a good effort.”
Nashville is 2-1-1 in its past four games after an eight-game losing streak. The team has scored at least four goals in three of those outings.
“We feel a little more connected,” center Steven Stamkos said. “Certainly I think we’re starting to get comfortable. … It’s nice to see some pucks go in the net finally, but again it’s a process that’s better. Now, let’s clean up some other areas of the game and hopefully we can keep getting some points here.”
It had been a slow start for Stamkos in his first season with the Predators, with just one goal in his first 10 games. Since then, he’s scored eight in 23 games, bringing his season total to nine to share the team lead with Filip Forsberg and fellow free-agent acquisition Jonathan Marchessault.
–Field Level Media
