Budaj, Kings shut out Predators
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Peter Budaj stopped 28 shots Thursday night for his fourth shutout of the season as the Los Angeles Kings dumped the Nashville Predators 4-0 at Bridgestone Arena.
In improving to 15-8-3, Budaj enabled Los Angeles (17-13-3) to improve to 3-2-1 on its nine-game road trip that doesn't end until Dec. 29. He came up with a huge stop on Viktor Arvidsson during a Los Angeles power play midway through the second period, denying the right winger on a breakaway that could have tied the game.
The Kings broke it open with three third-period goals, the first two in a nine-second span. Nic Dowd made it 2-0 at 4:25 with a wrister from a bad angle that snuck through the legs of Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne, his fourth goal of the season.
Jeff Carter supplied his 17th marker moments later, ripping a wrister to the top left corner of the net. Devin Setoguchi capped the outburst at 11:39 by wristing Anze Kopitar's feed over Rinne's pads for his fourth goal of the season.
Rinne (13-9-4) made 21 saves as the Predators (15-13-5) followed up consecutive road wins over Philadelphia and New Jersey with their third straight home defeat.
Los Angeles started the scoring at 6:33 of the first period with somewhat of a fluky goal. Nick Shore's wrister struck the stick handle of Nashville's Mike Ribeiro and fluttered past Rinne for Shore's second tally in 32 games.
The Predators generated 12 shots on net in the first to the Kings' five, although they didn't have many great scoring chances.
Prior to Arvidsson's breakaway, Nashville's two best scoring opportunities occurred in the first four minutes of the second period. Filip Forsberg got open for a wrister from the left faceoff circle and missed the net high, while Colton Sissons had a chance from the right faceoff circle just over a minute later but sailed his attempt wide.
NOTES: Los Angeles C Tyler Toffoli (lower-body injury) missed his first game of the season. Toffoli's 20 points are second-best on the team. ... Former Nashville C David Legwand announced his retirement from the NHL on Thursday. The team's first-ever draft pick in 1998, Legwand holds franchise records for career games, goals, assists and points. ... The Kings scratched D Matt Greene and LW Kyle Clifford. ... The Predators scratched D P.K. Subban (upper-body injury), D Petter Granberg and C Reid Boucher. Subban missed his fourth straight game.