Roman Josi returned in a much-needed matinee win.
The first period was a quiet affair, with a few long stretches of Kings possession broken up by a brief Preds rally and a Zach L’Heureux goal at 14:16. The Kings responded strongly, but the Preds were saved by the buzzer.
L’Heureux opened the second period, not with another goal, but with losing his footing while crashing the net and then taking out Darcy Kuemper and the Kings’ net. Adrian Kempe then committed a penalty — even heading toward the box himself — before the refs decided it hadn’t been a penalty after all. This started off a strong period for Nashville.
Although Filip Forsberg had a couple of good looks, his snakebit streak continued. Jonathan Marchessault had a goal waved off and took a hooking penalty, but the Preds were able to kill the penalty off, and Marchessault redeemed himself by finishing off a great play by Forsberg and Josi to put the Preds up by two for real this time.
Kevin Fiala short-circuited the Kings’ offense in the third with an impulsive offensive zone penalty, but the Preds weren’t able to convert. It gave Nashville a brief break from the relentless pressure, but with Fiala out of the box that resumed, and Quinton Byfield made good on it at 9:24 of the third.
The Preds got a break immediately after, when a pretty weak hooking call was made on Jacob Moverare. However, it didn’t function as much of a break, with Byfield almost tying it shorthanded — and then almost scoring an own goal seconds later when he tried to pass to his goalie in his own end.
Alex Laferrière tied the game shortly afterward, at 13:23, on a delayed penalty against the Preds. Nashville pushed back after that and took the momentum into overtime, where Nick Blankenburg scored his first as a Predator by collecting a Forsberg shot and putting it into the net behind Kuemper.