Nashville Predators 5, Los Angeles Kings 3: Jarnkrok’s hat trick helps snap skid

The first home game in two weeks turned out to be a welcoming sight for the Nashville Predators.

Calle Jarnkrok’s first career NHL hat trick helped lift the Predators to a 5-3 victory over the Los Angeles Kings at Bridgestone Arena.

Nashville (14-5-1) snapped a three-game skid with the victory, while Los Angeles (6-12-1) remained firmly at the bottom of the Western Conference.

Yannick Weber was called for tripping with 7:33 left in the first, but the Kings basically killed off their own penalty with a little help from Pekka Rinne.

The Preds got a power play late in the period, but they only killed two minutes with nothing to show for it. Filip Forsberg had two point-blank chances in the final seconds, but Calvin Petersen stopped the first one and Forsberg missed the second.

Kyle Turris ended a series of close one-timers on the power play with one that actually found the net early in the second period.

Seconds after Forsberg’s penalty ended, Nate Thompson stuffed home a rebound to tie the game at the 5:55 mark.

Just 19 seconds later, Dustin Brown found Anze Kopitar to give the Kings a 2-1 lead.

Calle Jarnkrok tied things up midway through the period, but LA cleaned up a rebound in front of Rinne and Alex Iafallo put the Kings back in front a couple of minutes later.

Jarnkrok netted his second of the game 5:44 into the third period on the power play to tie the game at 3-3. He then finished off the hat trick with a shorthanded goal with 11:54 to play.

Nick Bonino added an empty-netter with :56.8 to play to provide the final margin and end the Predators’ three-game losing streak.

Random Observations

• Craig Smith on the top line? Okay, let’s see about it.
• Man, this new intro they busted out is pretty flippin’ awesome.
• Strength and conditioning coach David Good being honored for working his 1,500th NHL game. I wonder what the players got him.
• Don’t be surprised if Matt Luff scores for the Kings — it would be his first career NHL goal.
• Good chance for Yannick Weber early on the rush.
• Fourth line doing some work and getting some pressure.
• This has been pretty much a blah period in more of a dammit week.
• Something finally happened — but it’s a Kings power play.
• Rinne’s mustache had to have helped with that pad save.
• Power play, activate!
• Or not.
• The Preds have the most power play opportunities and the least success in the league so far.
• Forsberg has two glorious chances in the final seconds of the first...one saved, one missed. Yikes.
• Ryan Hartman doesn’t deserve this. Just four shifts and 2:40 in the first period playing with Gaudreau and Salomaki.
• Good move to the net by Bonino to draw the penalty. Let’s just decline it, though, shall we?
• Never mind. Kyle Turris gets it and now they’re 9-for-76 for the year.
• Paul McCann can’t even finish the goal announcement before that penalty.
• A pretty bad 20-second stretch and the Kings now lead.

• I see you, Calle Jarnkrok.
• Bold strategy falling down in front of Pekka and hoping he can stop it. Let’s see if that pays...no, no, it won’t pay off.
• The defensive lapses are concerning...
• ...the third pair even more so.
• Time to be concerned:

• Don’t look now, but that’s TWO power play goals and it’s tied again.
• This wasn’t the game I imagined during that first period.
• Power play time again.
• Well, so much for that.
• Jarnkrok. Shorthanded. Frosty. Hat trick. Go-ahead. That’s what we called a timely goal.

Super Duper Stars of the Game

1. Calle Jarnkrok. Special-teams wizard.
2. Ryan Johansen. The whole first line was good, but Joey did everything except score.
3. Kyle Turris. Ended the long national nightmare (ok, not really) with a power play goal.

Tweets of the Night