Hockey Wires

Nashville Predators (9-8-5) at Los Angeles Kings (10-7-2), 10:30 p.m. (ET)

 

The Sports Network

The Los Angeles Kings aim to bounce right back into the win column on Monday evening when they take on the Nashville Predators for the third and final time this regular season.

Looking to rebound from a slow start, the defending champion Kings had won five straight and seven of eight before suffering a 5-2 road loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.

Justin Williams and Jordan Nolan each scored once for the Kings, while Jonathan Quick allowed four goals on 23 shots in the setback.

Like the Kings tried not to get too relaxed during a winning streak, Kings coach Darryl Suter doesn't want this loss to come with too much weight.

"You win you move on, you lose you move on," Suter said.

While Jeff Carter had a five-game goal-scoring streak end, Anze Kopitar picked up an assist to give him nine points over a five-game point streak.

Los Angeles activated defenseman Alec Martinez from injured reserve on Saturday, but he did not play after sitting out the previous seven games due to an upper body injury. The Kings blue line remains without Matt Greene (back surgery) and Willie Mitchell (knee surgery).

The Kings hope to extend a four-game home winning streak in the first of five straight in Los Angeles and play host to a Predators club that has struggled to a loss in six of its past eight. That includes Saturday's 2-1 setback at the San Jose Sharks.

The Sharks picked up a power-play goal in each of the first two periods and outshot the Predators 16-6 in the opening frame. Gabriel Bourque pulled Nashville within one on a short-handed goal with 5:30 to play, but the rally fell short.

"The two penalties we took were unnecessary and we didn't kill them," Preds head coach Barry Trotz said.

Pekka Rinne made 37 stops in the setback, Nashville's first in regulation since Dec. 26, 2010 when Rinne makes 35-or-more saves.

The Predators have won both meetings with the Kings so far this season, snapping a two-game slide in Los Angeles by winning an eight-round shootout on Jan. 31 before blanking the Kings 3-0 at home on Feb. 7. Colin Wilson scored twice and Rinne made 32 saves.

Read more Hockey Wires stories from the Miami Herald

  • Avs mum on report Patrick Roy may be next coach

    Avalanche fans are talking about the possibility of Hall of Fame goalie Patrick Roy becoming the next coach of the Colorado team.

  • Mitch Albom: Red Wings get jump on Blackhawks for Game 3 win

    DETROIT � Up and down. Quick as a minute. The compass was broken at Joe Louis Arena, and the game had only two directions: north and south. It was a track meet, a caffeinated pogo stick, all breathless goals and breathless chances. Fortunately, the Red Wings had three of the former and Jimmy Howard for the latter. When the horn sounded, the oddsmakers were rubbing their eyes, fans were singing Bon Jovi - "Whoa-oh, we're halfway there! ..." - and Chicago will have to beat the Wings three times in four chances now to keep them out of the Western Conference finals.

  •  

Chicago Blackhawks left wing Viktor Stalberg (25), of Sweden, grimaces after hitting the wall during the first period of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs Western Conference semifinal game against the Detroit Red Wings in Detroit, Monday, May 20, 2013.

    Red Wings beat Blackhawks to take 2-1 series lead

    The Chicago Blackhawks were controlling the puck and dominating play early in the second period. It took all of a half-minute for the Detroit Red Wings to swing the momentum.

Join the
Discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere on the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

The Miami Herald uses Facebook's commenting system. You need to log in with a Facebook account in order to comment. If you have questions about commenting with your Facebook account, click here.

Have a news tip? You can send it anonymously. Click here to send us your tip - or - consider joining the Public Insight Network and become a source for The Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald.

Hide Comments

This affects comments on all stories.

Cancel OK

  • Videos

  • Quick Job Search

Enter Keyword(s) Enter City Select a State Select a Category