The Los Angeles Kings came into Tuesday night looking for a reset after Saturday’s loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Instead, they walked off the ice with another familiar problem staring them in the face: no goals, no momentum, and a 3-0 loss to the Nashville Predators at Crypto.com Arena.
It was the Kings’ first shutout of the season, and the frustration showed afterward.
"I think everybody’s probably frustrated," head coach Peter Laviolette said. "We’re here to win hockey games and we’re not getting that done."
Nashville’s Filip Forsberg was the difference in a game that also featured an unusual matchup of surnames, with the Predators forward going against Kings goaltender Anton Forsberg. The Nashville star won that battle decisively, scoring twice to power the road victory.
The two teams entered the night averaging exactly 3.00 goals per game, but only one side looked capable of turning that number into production. The Predators made their chances count. The Kings did not.
"There were point blank chances and rebound chances and just not able to capitalize," Laviolette said. "I don’t think we made the plays quick enough."
Nashville struck first with 14:40 left in the opening period. Nils Hoglander picked off a pass from Kings defenseman Brian Dumoulin, then started a two-on-one rush that ended with a feed to Filip Forsberg, who finished with a one-timer.
The Kings settled in late in the first period, but the Predators found the same connection again in the second. Halfway through the period, Hoglander sent a pass to Forsberg at the faceoff dot, and the 32-year-old Swede snapped a shot top-shelf for his seventh goal of the season and a 2-0 Nashville lead.
Adam Wilsby added an empty-net goal with less than two minutes left to finish off the shutout and send Los Angeles to 5-9-2.
"I think [we] didn’t feel connected out there at all," winger Adrian Kempe said. "Overall, pretty disappointed."
Anton Forsberg did what he could to keep the Kings in it, stopping 27 of 29 shots. But Juuse Saros was even sharper at the other end, turning away all 30 shots he faced for his first shutout of the season.
The larger issue for Los Angeles is becoming hard to ignore. In Laviolette’s first season behind the bench, the Kings are now 0-8-1 when they score two goals or fewer. When the offense goes quiet, the results have followed.
That has been especially true when Anton Forsberg starts. In his six starts this season, the Kings are 0-5-1 and averaging just 1.5 goals per game.
"He’s played good for us," center Scott Laughton said. "We need to find a way to find sustained zone time in the offensive zone, wear teams down, where they’re tired and we three-quarter ice them. It’s just not happening right now."
Laughton also pointed to the need for more from everyone in the room.
"I haven’t been good enough," Laughton said. "I need to bring more to this group and I’m sure a lot of guys would say the same."
Even with the skid, he said the locker room remains together.
"There’s no finger pointing, I don’t think we have that in our group" Laughton said. "To get out of it, you need urgency. You need to have a collective effort to get going here."
In Other News...
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Kevin Fialas expected return should help, and there is no question his presence could give Los Angeles a needed spark in the lineup and in the attack. Still, the bigger issue is not simply getting one key forward back, but whether the Kings can stop waiting for a deficit to wake them up and start playing with the kind of pace and conviction that makes any reinforcements matter. [Read more 🡒]
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Mats Zuccarello, meanwhile, is starting to look more like himself after a rough opening stretch, and coach Peter Laviolette singled out his play from the previous game. For a Kings team trying to settle its lineup and stay steady on the back end, getting a veteran forward moving in the right direction matters, especially when the defense is already dealing with uncertainty. [Read more 🡒]