Los Angeles, CA — The Los Angeles Kings (36-20-9) secured the win against the Nashville Predators (25-33-8) in a close 1-0 game at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday, March 15.
One of the standout players for the Kings was goaltender Darcy Kuemper, who kept the Predators out of contention for a goal, making 24 saves and maintaining a 9-0-2 home record for Los Angeles.
Throughout most of the game, while Nashville maintained a steady defense against Los Angeles with 21 blocked shots, the Kings kept the game moving.
In the first period of the game, the only penalty came from Nashville — hooking penalty against right wing forward Adrian Kempe. Though Los Angeles were granted a power play off of that penalty, they weren’t able to convert any of their shots to the Nashville net.
The second period rolled around, and the Predators granted the Kings two more power plays — tripping and high-sticking, respectively. Despite the efforts of Byfield and left wing forward Warren Foegele, the Kings were unsuccessful in converting on any of their power plays. Meanwhile, the LA took two penalties — illegal check to the head and hooking, respectively — though Nashville were also unable to convert any of their penalty power plays.
As the third period slid by, neither team made any progress towards any goals. Neither team took any penalties. Ultimately, the game went into overtime and progressed the game forward.
As the game flew into overtime, both teams moved up and down the Kings’ home ice, trying to make space for one of these players to step up and drive the puck into a net. Right wing forward Quinton Byfield slapped a wrist shot into the Nashville net, and finally secured a goal onto the scoreboard, giving Los Angeles victory over the Predators, 1-0.
Despite the hustle up and down the Kings’ home ice, throughout the game while Nashville had taken more shots at the goal, the Kings made more aggressive plays on the ice, and made greater strides in the end.
Notably, with this win the Kings made this game their fifth consecutive win in a row, while at the same time Byfield’s goal at the very end makes this game his sixth in a row where he scored for Los Angeles. The Kings use this victory as momentum for them as they hit the road in order to take on the Minnesota Wild.
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