Kings continue to struggle after 1-2 loss to Predators

On Thursday night, the Nashville Predators secured a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings, with Ryan O’Reilly contributing a power-play goal and an assist, while Gustav Nyquist also found the back of the net.

Roman Josi extended his streak of assists to five consecutive games, and goaltender Juuse Saros made an impressive 33 saves, propelling the Predators to their third win in the last four games. Despite a goal from Drew Doughty and 31 saves by David Rittich for the Kings, this marked their 10th loss in the past 11 games.

Gustav Nyquist broke the tie with 6:20 remaining in the second period, capitalizing on a rebound from Luke Schenn’s shot and slotting it into the open net after Doughty’s power-play goal had canceled out O’Reilly’s earlier tip during the man advantage.

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O’Reilly’s goal came from redirecting Josi’s shot, marking the defenseman’s seventh assist in a five-game span. Josi has maintained a consistent performance with at least 30 assists for the ninth consecutive season, excluding the shortened 2021 campaign due to COVID-19.

The Kings struggled to find the net at even strength once again, making it the third time in four games. Coach McLellan expressed concern about the impact of this offensive struggle on his players’ mindset and approach to the game.