Kings face new-look Predators this time

It’s only been eight days since the Kings last played in Nashville, but they’re not playing the same Predators. Hours before that last game, the Predators made two notable moves at the trade deadline, as they acquired forwards Paul Gaustad and Andrei Kostitsyn. The moves were widely hailed as positives for a Nashville team that is already strong on the back end. The Kings have the same group, but perhaps a bit of a fresher Jeff Carter. In the previous game, Carter was still adjusting after his trade from Columbus to the Kings and had made a couple cross-country flights in the previous few days. So, Darryl Sutter shied away from making too many comparisons to last week’s 2-1 loss to the Predators…

SUTTER: “That was trade-deadline day, so there are two different guys, and we had just got Carter, so it’s kind of an adjustment period for everybody.’’

Carter has now played four games with the Kings, while Kostitsyn has played two with Nashville and Gaustad has played one. Things are starting to settle down for teams around the league after a hectic couple of weeks leading up to the trade deadline, Dustin Brown said.

BROWN: “Coming up to the deadline, I think it’s just a tense time for everyone involved: players, teams, everyone. The media, all they’re talking about is trade deadline, trade deadline, trade deadline. We made a trade a few days before, and we were quiet at the deadline. Now it’s like guys are starting to settle it, and it’s almost like getting back to a bit of normalcy in your routine.’’