Kings at Predators
The Los Angeles Kings try to end their four-game road trip on a winning note on Thursday when they face the Nashville Predators, who have won their last two contests and three of four on their five-game homestand. The Kings dropped a 5-1 decision to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday after opening their away swing with wins over the Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers. Scoring has been an issue early on for Los Angeles, which has a Pacific Division-low 17 goals.
Each of Nashville’s three victories have come by one goal and no player has scored more than twice. The Predators' defense showed cracks last week in a 4-0 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who scored four times on 26 shots. Pekka Rinne’s play has raised concerns as his goals-against average is over 3.00 and his save percentage is below .890.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Fox Sports West, Fox Sports Tennessee
ABOUT THE KINGS (4-3-0): Goaltender Jonathan Quick is off to a rocky start, with a 2.90 goals-against average and .896 save percentage. Jeff Carter leads the team with four goals and 30 shots while Anze Kopitar (five assists) and Mike Richards (four assists) have yet to score on a combined 25 shots. Defenseman Jake Muzzin has been a healthy scratch for four consecutive games after posting a team-worst minus-5 in the first three contests.
ABOUT THE PREDATORS (3-3-0): Rookie forward Filip Forsberg, considered the future of Nashville’s offense, recorded an assist in Tuesday’s 4-3 win over the Panthers for his second point in four games. Rookie defenseman Seth Jones has three points to start his NHL career and has assumed the bulk of the workload in Roman Josi’s absence - he sits second on the team in average ice time behind captain Shea Weber. Josi remains out indefinitely with a concussion.
OVERTIME
1. Los Angeles D Drew Doughty is averaging 25:16 of ice time.
2. The Predators have allowed six goals in 21 short-handed opportunities.
3. Six of seven teams in the Pacific Division have at least eight points.