FINAL – Kings 1, Predators 0 (OT) – Byfield, Anderson, Hiller

The LA Kings made it five straight victories as they surged back into second place in the Pacific Division with a 1-0 overtime victory over the Nashville Predators on Saturday evening at Crypto.com Arena.

The first two periods came and went without a goal for either side, as the Kings collected just six shots on goal across the first 40 minutes. Despite the low total, the scoring chances favored the Kings in that time, as the hosts led 17-11 despite seeing more than 83 percent of their shot attempts not go on net. Their best chance in the opening two periods came at the very end of the second period, as forward Adrian Kempe leaned into a one-timer that beat Nashville goaltender Justus Annunen but hit the post, sending the game into the second intermission 0-0.

In the third period, the Kings doubled their total for shots on goal from the first 40 minutes, testing Nashville goaltender Justus Annunen 12 times, but came up empty, with the game progressing into overtime 0-0.

In the extra session, forward Quinton Byfield extended his own streak to six consecutiove games with a goal, as he buried the overtime game-winner. Forward Adrian Kempe fought through a check down the right wing, working his way towards the net in the process. Kempe fed Byfield at the back post where he scored the only goal of the game to secure the two points for the Knigs.

Hear from Byfield, defenseman Mikey Anderson and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s game.

Quinton Byfield

Mikey Anderson
On tonight’s game and finding a way to get the win at home
Yeah, there wasn’t much really going either way. Maybe a few too many turnovers, kind of felt more like a ping-pong game at times. At the end of the day, we found a way to come up with two points, and it’s kind of all you’re asking for this time of the year.

On the team’s approach when realizing it wasn’t a “connected” game
I think our forwards did a pretty good job, once we got it down low, with some puck possession, finding a way to get some pucks to the net, a little bit at least. I mean, we came in after the second and I don’t know even if we had 10 shots, but it’s just one of those days. You push it to the side and you put the work boots back on and just keep grinding.

On tonight possibly being a “letdown” game
I don’t know if it is, maybe, but at the same time, every game is big, it’s different. Obviously, [Wednesday] is maybe a more emotional win but then you have to reset. They’re a good, hard team, I think coming into the night, four of the last five they’ve won, so we knew they were going to be playing. Wherever they are in the standings, they always are hard working and they’re structured, so we kind of expected the kind of game we got.

On big saves in big moments from Darcy Kuemper
Those are big momentum changes, right? If it goes in then maybe they’re feeling it, we go on our heels, kind of anytime throughout a game. He’s made some big ones when we need it to keep us in it if we’re down. He’s been awesome.

On the team’s desire to get home ice in the first round of the playoffs
Obviously we want to get as high as we can get. Every game, we’re trying to treat it like it’s a must win. We need to keep finding ways to get two points and if maybe you don’t have your best, find a way to at least get one and hopefully get the extra. Everyone wants to be at home, we love playing here and it’s been great so far this season at home, so it’s what we’re going to keep pushing for.

Jim Hiller
On if Quinton Byfield has entered difference-maker status
I don’t know exactly what that means, but I will tell you this, he’s a good player who is getting better. So, I don’t know, somebody can decide when he hits the threshold, but I think he’s been a difference maker for us for some time.

On starting Byfield in overtime and his importance in that phase of the game
Third winner, Q has got three winners, right, so him and Huice have started now for a little bit. Kopi was out there with Laf, had a chance on the net as well. Speed is important in overtime, with all that ice, and no matter how many minutes Q gets, he just doesn’t slow down. He’s got an engine.
On his evaluation of the offensive side of the game tonight
We had to make sure we didn’t get frustrated, because if you looked at the attempts, the attempts were there. They blocked a lot, we missed a lot and if you just start staring at that board, you look at five and six, it doesn’t look or feel very good and that can make it worse. We tried to focus on that more, on the attempts we were getting. We had a lot of looks from up to the top, they were really tight so they gave us top, they didn’t give us anything at the bottom and we banged away at it. Usually something hits something that ends up in the back of the net or there’s a rebound, but nothing tonight.

On the team’s mindset after two periods, having just six shots on goal
I think everybody tried to just remain calm, again, not pour gas on the fire in that instance. I think the players, we weren’t sharp, let’s be honest. How many times did we ice the puck and seemingly right on our tape and we missed it, so we were not sharp, that’s very clear. But, I think everybody was still pretty calm, understanding that if you get too angry and frustrated then things just don’t usually turn out for you. So, maintain your focus. Kopi does such a great job of that, just stick with it and you hope something good happens. That was one of those games where we could have lost it pretty easily but I think the maturity of the team shined through.

On the challenges of ramping back up after an emotional win on Thursday over Washington
It’s just it’s really hard, it’s really hard to play with that level of emotion night after night. Again, I’ve said it, we expect perfection. We demand it. We want it. Just understand that sometimes it’s just not there and beyond the emotion, I thought we just weren’t sharp. Sometimes, if you’re sharp and get in and you can get into the game and we just didn’t, At one point late in the first, I sat Helenius’ line and went to three lines, not because Helenius’ line wasn’t doing a good job, but it just was all those icings, it just felt like everybody was just sitting there quietly. I wanted to try and get those guys into the game somehow, because it just didn’t have a lot of flow to it.

On the importance of the roadtrip ahead for the Kings in trying to continue momentum
I think this is going to be a good test for us in Minnesota. They play a certain style of game, they’re strong. It’s going to have to take a deep breath and we’re going to have to come with some more energy for that one, for sure. I think it’s going to be a really good test for our team. I think this Minnesota game, we’ll start with that one, but I think it’s going to be a test for us.

Notes –
• Forward Quinton Byfield scored the lone goal of tonight’s contest in overtime, extending his career-best goal streak to a sixth game (6-0=6). Byfield becomes the fourth different skater under the age of 23 to record a six-game goal streak in Kings history, joining Jimmy Carson (2x), Luc Robitaille (2x) and Bernie Nicholls.
• Byfield’s six-game goal streak is the first such streak by a Kings skater since Robitaille’s 10-game goal streak (15- 8=23) from Feb. 27 – March 20, 1993.
• Forward Adrian Kempe recorded his 27th assist of the season by setting-up Byfield’s overtime goal. The assist marks Kempe’s 54th point (27-27=54) of the campaign, breaking a tie with Anze Kopitar for the team lead.
• Kempe has now factored in on all three of Byfield’s career overtime goals, including his helper on Dec. 28, 2024 vs. EDM and most recently on March 8, 2025 vs. STL. Kempe has also now recorded four points in his last four games (1- 3=4) against the Predators.
• Defenseman Brandt Clarke tallied his 23rd assist and 28th point of the season (5-23=28), tying Byfield for fourth most assists on the team.
• Kopitar skated in his 717th home game tonight, tying Luc Robitaille for the 35th most in League history.
• Goaltender Darcy Kuemper turned aside all 24 of the Predators’ shots on goal for his second consecutive shutout victory (also March 13 vs. WSH), the 200th win of his NHL career. Kuemper becomes the seventh Saskatchewan-born goaltender to reach 200 career wins.
• Kuemper is the first Kings goalie to record back-to-back shutouts since he posted consecutive blank sheets on Jan. 30 and Feb. 3, 2018.
• In posting his fourth shutout of the season, Kuemper extends his home point streak to 13 games and passes Kelly Hrudey (12 GP in 1990-91) for the longest run in Kings history.
• Per NHL PR, tonight’s overtime victory extends the Kings’ home point streak to 12 games for the third time in franchise history (also 13 GP in 2022-23 & 1992-93).

The Kings are scheduled to travel to Minnesota tomorrow and will not practice. The team will return to the ice for morning skate on Monday, March 17 at the Xcel Energy Center, in advance of that evening’s game versus the Wild.