The Nashville Predators had a season-low 16 shots on goal and none of them found the net as they lost by a final score of 3-0 to Darcy Kuemper and the Los Angeles Kings on Monday at Bridgestone Arena.

How the Predators lined up against Los Angeles

Forsberg-O’Reilly-Nyquist

Stamkos-Pärssinen-Marchessault

Jankowski Novak Evangelista

L’Heureux-Sissons-Smith

Skjei-Josi

Lauzon carrier

Del Gaizo-Schenn

Saros

Wedgewood

Extras: McCarron, Tomasino, Fabbro

Game summary

Anze Kopitar got the Kings rolling at 13:24 of the first period, knocking Juuse Saros’ shot into the net from below the goal line to give Los Angeles a 1-0 lead.

An uneventful first half for the Predators gave way to a rocky second. Luke Schenn and former Predators forward Tanner Jeannot dropped their gloves at 6:36 of the frame, and each was ruled a five-minute fighting major. Less than two minutes later, Kings defenseman Kyle Burroughs hit Gustav Nyquist with a knee, and Ryan O’Reilly quickly came to Nyquist’s defense. O’Reilly and Burroughs each received five minutes for the fight, and Burroughs received two additional minutes for kneeling, giving the Predators a power play opportunity – albeit without one of their best power players in O’Reilly.

The Predators failed to capitalize on the man advantage and the game continued at even strength until Jeremy Lauzon delivered a big hit to Alex Turcotte and had to face Phillip Danault. Both Danault and Lauzon were whistled for fighting, but neither team was able to get anything going in the 4-on-4 game and the score remained 1-0 heading into the second intermission.

The Predators also made some changes to their forward combinations in the second period, with Luke Evangelista and Zachary L’Heureux joining Steven Stamkos on the second line. Juuso Pärssinen moved to the fourth row to play on the wing with Colton Sissons and Cole Smith, and Jonathan Marchessault joined Tommy Novak and Mark Jankowski on the second row. Even though Nashville’s offense did nothing with the switch, the Predators managed to limit Los Angeles to just three shots on goal in the second period.

However, that quickly changed early in the third period as the Kings had five quick shots on goal before the Predators scored. It paid off for Los Angeles as former Predators forward Kevin Fiala scored off a rebound in the first minute of the third period to extend the Kings’ lead to 2-0.

This time it was the Predators who only managed to get three shots on goal while in the game in the third period. Adrian Kempe scored into an empty net for Los Angeles at 17:02 of the third period, making the final score 3-0.

Key insights

• Monday marked Lauzon’s 300th career NHL game.

• Nashville defenseman Marc Del Gaizo made a great play early in the second period, pushing the puck away from the goal line after sneaking past Saros, robbing the Kings of their second goal of the night.

• Turcotte did not return to the game after taking Lauzon’s goal in the second period.

Next

The Predators played back-to-back sets on Wednesday against the Washington Capitals and on Thursday against the Florida Panthers. Puck drop for each game will occur at 6:00 p.m. CT and games will be broadcast regionally on FanDuel Sports Network South and on ESPN+ for out-of-market customers in the United States.

Visit the Hockey News Nashville Predators team page to stay up to date with the latest news, gameday coverage, player features, podcasts and more.

Latest Predators news

“Predators’ Sissons responds to wake-up call”

Nashville Predators sign prospect Ozzy Wiesblatt

3 Nashville Predators are off to a hot start

Lauzon takes a massive hit in his battle with the Oilers’ Podkolzin