Kings Struggle to Beat Lowly Predators, 3-2

The Kings shouldn’t have needed an overtime power play to defeat the Nashville Predators Saturday, but perhaps their narrow escape from the clutches of a non-playoff team will remind them they can’t turn their intensity on at will.

Capitalizing on a four-on-three edge, the Kings squeezed out a 3-2 victory when Jozef Stumpel took a shot that deflected off a Predator stick and over the left shoulder of Nashville goalie Mike Dunham 28 seconds into the sudden-death period. Stumpel’s shot beat Dunham high and to the stick side from the left circle, touching off a roar of approval from the crowd of 18,118 at Staples Center, the Kings’ 12th sellout.

“We need the points, especially after the tie with Vancouver and loss to Carolina,” Stumpel said. “We have to pick up the points.

“[Almost] every team coming in is fighting for position, so nothing is going to be easy.”

The Kings, who are 1-1-1 on this seven-game home stand, couldn’t hold leads of 1-0 and 2-1 over the small but tenacious Predators.

They also lost two players to injury in the second period. Goalie Stephane Fiset was replaced by Jamie Storr at 14:15 after sustaining a strained left groin muscle in a goalmouth pileup, and he will be reevaluated today. Fiset had stopped nine of 11 shots before leaving for treatment. Center Bryan Smolinski was helped off 36 seconds later, after he was hit in the left eye by Greg Johnson’s high stick to the left of the Kings’ net. Smolinski suffered a corneal abrasion and also needed two stitches to close a cut beneath his eye.

The Kings failed to convert their first four power plays but finally connected after Predator defenseman Karlis Skrastins tripped Ziggy Palffy in the neutral zone with 20.2 seconds left in regulation time. That carried over into overtime and gave the Kings a four-on-three, under the NHL’s new overtime format. This time, they didn’t miss, and they stayed solidly in sixth in the Western Conference standings, a point behind the fifth-seeded Phoenix Coyotes.

“It would have been such a letdown to settle for a tie,” Storr said. “The biggest thing is we worked hard and got two points. We were rewarded.”

One who was not personally rewarded was Luc Robitaille. The King left wing was held without a point, ending his 15-game scoring streak.

Although King Coach Andy Murray has been concerned about jump-starting the second line, it was the fourth line that scored a rare goal Saturday. Len Barrie won the puck in a scrum in the Kings’ zone and passed to Bob Corkum, who skated up the left side. Corkum skated into the left faceoff circle before passing across to Dan Bylsma, who rifled the puck into the upper-left corner of the net at 9:19 for his third goal. It was also his first since Jan. 11.

The Predators capitalized on a bit of luck to tie the score at 10:16. Scott Walker was set up by Ville Peltonen for a shot from the left circle that deflected off defenseman Mattias Norstrom and changed direction before eluding a helpless Fiset.

Galley combined with fellow defenseman Sean O’Donnell to put the Kings ahead, 2-1, at 16:22. Stumpel orchestrated the play by controlling the puck and finding O’Donnell open on the left side. O’Donnell isn’t much of an offensive contributor, but he showed some smarts when he passed across to Galley, who had darted into the right circle. Galley waited, hoping a screen might materialize, and finally beat Dunham with a good wrist shot from about 25 feet out.

The Kings had several chances to add to their lead in the second period but could not grab control of the game. Jason Blake, playing on the second line in place of Donald Audette, hit the post in the third minute, and the Kings wasted a power play they had gained at 6:11 when Walker was penalized for slashing. Those failures loomed large when Nashville defenseman Bill Houlder redirected a shot Johnson had flung on net hoping for a deflection or rebound, tying the score, 2-2, at 13:19..

Johnson was assessed a double minor for hitting Smolinski in the eye but the Kings mounted no sustained pressure on the Predators and took only one shot. Boos rang out from the stands as the advantage ended.