The Kings were shut out by the Predators

LOS ANGELES — The Kings have started off lackluster and were shut out by the Predators, 3-0. Los Angeles has its second consecutive loss where they fell behind by two goals.

Similar to last game, the Kings came out flat and fell into an early deficit tonight. The Predators capitalized on the Kings' sluggish start and locked in a 2-0 lead after two periods.

Filip Forsberg tallied the first two goals for Nashville and Nilis Hoglander recorded an assist on both scores. Nashville’s second line controlled the pace and put the Kings in a hole they couldn't get out of.

A rally was attempted by the Kings, but it didn’t produce any scores to get back in the game. An energetic third period from Los Angeles was not enough to make up for the first 40 minutes.

“We had urgency in the third, and you see what happens [when] we played with pace, and we get pucks on net, we recover them,” Scott Laughton said. “Obviously, we didn’t score, so not good enough. We need to have that urgency from the get-go.”

Energy heavily favored the Predators from the start as they were faster and controlled the tempo. The quicker pace allowed Nashville to spend more time in the offensive zone and have more scoring opportunities.

Contrary to the Predators, the Kings could not generate quality possession in the offensive zone. Los Angeles had numerous missed chances for a shot and passes that didn’t link with their teammates.

“Whenever we had the puck, we couldn’t connect on one or two passes in the o-zone," Adrian Kempe said. “Without the puck, I thought they were quicker, faster to loose pucks and won more battles than we did.”

Overpassing was a consistent mistake that the Kings made. This limited the actual shot attempts Los Angeles had. Through the first 40 minutes, the Kings had only 15 shots on goal.

In the third period, the Kings were able to get 15 shots, but it was more out of desperation. An aggressive offense was nonexistent when the Kings needed to keep up with the Predators.

“Just pressing us in the neutral zone and that’s where the passes became a little bit sloppy, said Coach Laviolette. “We didn’t connect, we weren’t able to get through clean and get into the offensive zone,”

Unlike Los Angeles, Nashville had an aggressive offense from the very beginning and took shots when needed. The assertive attack from the Predators led to odd-man rushes which translated into goals.

“The odd man rushes five or so in the first period, three or so in the second, said you give up eight odd man rushes in the first two periods. It’s not going to end well,” Coach Laviolette said.

As the Kings continue their same bad habits, the losses keep piling up along with them. Los Angeles was lethargic on offense and didn’t show any attack until they were already down by multiple scores. If the Kings are unable to come out the gates with more energy, then losses like tonight will be consistent.