FINAL – Kings 2, Predators 3 (OT) – Edmundson, Byfield, Hiller

The LA Kings pushed their record to 3-1-2 on their seven-game roadtrip, after coming from behind to get a point in a 3-2 overtime defeat in Nashville on Saturday afternoon at Bridgestone Arena.

Against the flow of play, Nashville opened the scoring just over 14 minutes into the game. The Predators were first to a loose puck in the corner, after a shot from forward Ryan O’Reilly was blocked, with forward Gustav Nyquist winning the race. Nyquist fed his linemate, forward Zachary L’Heureux, at the top of the crease, where he had inside positioning and scored from close range for a 1-0 lead.

The Predators scored right around the same time of the second period as well, opening up a 2-0 lead. Defenseman Roman Josi made his presence felt in his return from injured reserve, as he worked his way into open space with a toe drag in transition, before feeding forward Jonathan Marchessault driving the net for the tap-in goal, his tenth of the season, for the two-goal advantage.

Just shy of the midway mark of the third period, the Kings got on the board through forward Quinton Byfield, cutting their deficit in half. A hardworking play from Warren Foegele was rewarded, as he fed Byfield in the slot and the centerman buried his shot inside the post on the blocker side for his sixth goal of the season.

Later in the period, with a delayed penalty coming in favor of the Kings, the visitors used the 6-on-5 advantage to tie the game at two and force overtime. Defenseman Joel Edmundson got a shot through from the point and the rebound was kicked right into the crease, with forward Alex Laferriere on hand to bury the rebound for his 13th goal of the season and a 2-2 scoreline.

After neither team was able to win the game in regulation, the game progressed into overtime, where Nashville collected the second point. The Predators created a 2-on-1 out of the corner, working the puck to defenseman Nick Blankenburg in the slot, where he deked around Kings netminder Darcy Kuemper and scored the game-winning goal, his first of the season, for a 3-2 victory.

Hear from Byfield, Edmundson and Head Coach Jim Hiller following today’s loss.

Joel Edmundson

Quinton Byfield
On the team’s resilience to come back and get a point from the game
I think we showed good resilience there, knowing how much these games mean to us. It was a good fight back, but we don’t want to just battle back and get one point, we want two. Definitely happy to sneak away with one, but with the energy that we were playing with in the third there, to battle back, it sucks, it really hurts that we didn’t get two.

On how the Kings have made the third period their period over the last two games
I think the third period, those are the most important periods right there. We go into the [third period] tied, today we go down into the third, down 2-0, it just shows the commitment that we have and the will that we want to win. I think everyone, when it comes to the third, ups their game.

On where he felt the disconnect was in the second period
I think the big thing was breakouts. It’s not just the defense, it’s the forwards too, getting to right spots, getting open for them and communication. Even on my part as a centerman, you’ve got to talk to the D, give them eyes. They were hemming us in for the first two periods with those forechecks, so maybe more focus on that. We kind of sorted it out in the third, were able to exit the zone cleaner and get more rushes.

On his goal and the play of his line to create it
I that’s what our line does best. Big guys who skate, physical, so you want to work them down low, shoot pucks, get into net, that’s our mentality. Obviously a great pass from Foegs and I was able to capitalize on it.

Jim Hiller
On his takeaways from tonight’s game
First period, I thought we were really good, didn’t generate a lot but we were really skating, caught them in the neutral zone a number of times. Second period, not good at all. They took it to us, that was really clear. I thought we had some pretty big penalty kills throughout the night and then the third period, we did an outstanding job, we pushed. Just disappointing to see it end up in overtime and overtime is what it is.

On why the Kings have taken over the third period over the last two games
It’s hard to say. You could say, why didn’t you do it in the second period? It’s a hard game. The league is extremely tight, I know we’ve talked about this. That’s a team that played pretty hard, pretty physical and very well. You say look at the record, I mean, it’s the league, that’s a really good team. They make it hard on you, so you just weather the storm at times and then hopefully go and make some saves and then you can have your push again. We were able to get our push in the third.

On if he felt that breakouts were the biggest thing lacking in the second
There was lots, that was part of it. They were on us every time we tried to make small passes, so we tried to rim it a little more in the third and try to get our forwards skating a bit. There was a number of things, that was part of it for sure. They just had more energy. They were quicker and stronger in the second period than we were.

On Joel Edmundson’s shooting mentality and play tonight at both ends
Well, that’s important and I thought we passed too much up in the first two periods. We had some other opportunities to put it there at least and we didn’t. I thought Eddy was really good, I thought he was really physical, very engaged in the game and yeah, he had some good looks from the blueline. He’s got a bomb, hard to corral, so that was obviously a big moment for us.

On what he feels the Kings are lacking right now in 3-on-3 overtime
It’s hard, you make a mistake and they score, and that’s it. You can’t make a mistake in overtime or else you’re giving up a good chance. We’ve made mistakes, and the other team found the back of the net.

Notes –
• Forward Quinton Byfield (1-0=1) scored his third goal in his last four appearances, his seventh career point against the Predators (4-3=7) in eight games against the franchise.
• Forward Alex Laferriere (1-0=1) scored his 13th goal of the season to tie the game at two apiece in the final 10:00 minutes of the 3rd period. Per NHL PR, the second-year forward improves his season totals to 13-12=25 in 33 games and established a new career high for goals in a campaign. Laferriere, who recorded 12-11=23 in 81 games in 2023-24, required less than half the games to establish the new career mark.
• Forward Warren Foegele (0-1=1) was credited with the primary assist on Byfield’s sixth goal of the season. Foegele now has five points (2-3=5) in his last four games and has three points (1-2=3) over his past three visits to Bridgestone Arena, dating back to Oct. 17, 2023, as a member of the Oilers.
• Defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov (0-1=1) recorded his fifth assist of the week to extend his point streak to a third straight game (0-5=5).
• Forward Philip Danault (0-1=1) collected his second helper in as many games, his fourth point of the road trip (1- 3=4).
• Defenseman Joel Edmundson (0-1=1) recorded his sixth assist of the season with his helper on Laferriere’s game-tying goal.

The Kings are not scheduled to hold a morning skate tomorrow in Washington. The team will return to the ice at 5 PM local time, 2 PM Pacific, to take on the Washington Capitals in their final game before the NHL’s holiday break.