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 By beating Los Angeles 5-2 Monday night at sold-out Bridgestone
Arena, Nashville took a big step toward joining the Kings in the
Western Conference playoff field, perhaps even pairing with them in
the first round to boot.
In picking up at least one point for the 17th time in 19 games, the
Predators (37-23-13) broke the scoring seal with three second-period
markers, then held off a furious third-period rally with clutch
penalty-killing and a timely goal by center Ryan Johansen.
"There's a lot of possibilities and we still have (nine) games
left," Nashville center Mike Fisher said. "I thought we came out
with a purpose tonight and played really hard. They gave us all we
wanted at the end, but we executed really well."
After a physical first period filled with hits -- 29 overall, 18 by
Los Angeles -- and a combined 21 shots on net, the Predators took
command with a sustained flurry that knocked out goalie Jonathan
Quick before the third period began.
Right winger James Neal started the barrage at 7:37 with his 28th
goal, beating Quick with a wrister from the top of the left faceoff
circle off a clean faceoff win by Johansen.
"You always want to get the first one and go from there," Neal said.
"I thought the big thing was we were able to keep it going. We
disrupted their offense; we got to a lot of pucks."
Following a botched line change by the Kings that cost them a minor
penalty for too many men on the ice -- they had seven at one point
before the whistle blew -- Fisher made it 2-0 with a power-play
marker at 13:17. He followed his shot and poked the rebound into an
open net for his 12th tally.
Left winger Filip Forsberg capped the outburst with a backhand score
from the left goalpost at 15:23, making him the fifth player in
franchise history with 30 goals and putting him within three of
tying the franchise record set by Jason Arnott.
But Los Angeles predictably bounced back, silencing the audience of
17,113 with two goals in the third period's first eight minutes.
Left winger Tanner Pearson tipped a point blast from defenseman Drew
Doughty by goalie Pekka Rinne 32 seconds into the period to notch
his 14th goal, followed by a wrister from the point by Alec Martinez
for his 10th marker.
However, Johansen blunted the Kings' momentum by deflecting a point
shot from defenseman Shea Weber past backup goalie Jhonas Enroth at
11:45, his 13th goal of the season.
"If you look at it, there are a lot of momentum swings in any game,"
Johansen said. "They're a great team and they were coming at us.
That was a huge goal, no matter how you look at it."
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Los Angeles still created chances to dent its two-goal deficit,
earning a pair of power-play opportunities after Johansen's tally.
But Nashville killed off those penalties, as well as another one
earlier in the period, with some of its best shorthanded work of the
season.
"I liked the quickness we had on pucks and the quickness that we had
on battles," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said of the penalty
kill. "We were able to get clears 200 feet a few times."
Defenseman Roman Josi capped the scoring with an empty-netter at
19:31 for Nashville, which drew within four points of Chicago in the
Central Division and denied the Kings (44-23-5) a chance to
establish a six-point lead over Anaheim in the Pacific Division.
"The second period, we turned the pucks over a little bit and gave
them off-man rushes," Los Angeles coach Darryl Sutter said. "Our
forwards had trouble getting to the net against their defense. Most
of our chances came from up top from our defense."
Rinne finished with 28 saves on 30 shots in earning his 30th win of
the season, while Quick stopped 24 of 27 shots. Enroth faced only
two shots. NOTES: Los Angeles RW Kris Versteeg (foot) sat out after
leaving Saturday night's win over Boston when he was struck by a
shot. ... Nashville LW Eric Nystrom (foot) returned to the lineup
after sitting out the last 23 games after D Shea Weber hit him with
a slap shot in Vancouver Jan. 26. ... The Kings scratched D Jamie
McBain, while LW Austin Watson was the lone Predators scratch. ...
Nashville honored C Mike Fisher in pregame ceremonies for playing
his 1,000th NHL game on March 3.
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