Nick Blankenburg scored at 1:03 of overtime, and the Nashville Predators recovered for a 3-2 win against the visiting Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.
Filip Forsberg won a puck battle and took it to the right circle before feeding the defenseman, who was at the goal line to sweep in a backhand, with goalie Darcy Kuemper at the top of the crease.
Zachary L’Heureux and Jonathan Marchessault scored, and Justus Annunen made 22 saves for the Predators, who are 3-0-2 in their past five games.
Quinton Byfield and Alex Laferriere scored for the Kings, who have lost two of three. Kuemper made 23 saves.
After falling behind 2-0, Byfield cut it to 2-1 at 9:24 in the third, quickly roofing a wrister short side from the inner side of the left circle.
Laferriere tied it 2-2 on a delayed penalty at 13:23 when he pushed in a loose puck in front.
It was a slow start for both teams in the first period, combining for just five shots on goal through the first eight minutes, but the Kings started to find their legs and up their game as the period progressed.
But it was the hosts who opened the scoring late in the frame, courtesy of L’Heureux.
Gustav Nyquist collected a loose puck and fed a backhand pass to L’Heureux, who tapped it in five-hole on Annunen for a 1-0 lead at 14:16.
The Predators came out pressing in the second, outshooting the Kings 9-0 holding them to just two shot attempts by the seven-minute mark. Los Angeles didn’t register its first shot on goal until a minute later.
Marchessault made it 2-0 at 14:00. Roman Josi carried the puck in from the blue line to the top of the left circle, where he dragged around defenseman Kyle Burroughs and went to the front of the net before feeding a cross-crease pass to Marchessault on the back door.
The Kings pushed in the third period, but Annunen stayed sharp. He denied a Byfield backhand from in front nearly four minutes in, and less than a minute later, he stopped Anze Kopitar in tight.
–Field Level Media
