Predators 2, Kings 1: Preds pick up two points as they await two new players

So much for a trade deadline hangover.

Just hours after acquiring Andrei Kostitsyn and Paul Gaustad during a frenzied afternoon, the Predators took care of business on the ice, taking down the re-tooled Los Angeles Kings 2-1 at Bridgestone Arena.

Roman Josi and Patric Hornqvist scored for Nashville, and Pekka Rinne stopped 30 shots in the win.

The win puts more pressure on St. Louis, which is locked in a battle with the Calgary Flames at the time of this writing. The Predators will have Kostitsyn and Gaustad with them tomorrow night in Carolina, and look to only get stronger to finish the season.

Follow after the jump for video highlights and some post-game thoughts:

Highlights (may have to wait 30 or 45 minutes for them to show up):

Your random observations:

• That first period was pretty exciting with a lot of back and forth and a lot of chances both ways. You’ve gotta think that with roster spots on the line, the bottom-six guys wanted to come out with a little bit of an extra spring in their step.
• It was great to see Jack Hillen diving in front of the empty net to save a would-be goal there in the first and then getting his stick on a puck in front of another empty net in the second. You wondered how he would respond back in the lineup after being scratched for the last couple of games, and he certainly did his part tonight.
• Talk about a two-point swing. Jeff Carter hits the post, and the Preds immediately take it back down the ice and score to make it 2-0. That was classic Hornqvist just going to the net and being there to take out the trash.
• From there, it was pretty much just a matter of weathering the storm in the third period. The Preds allowed a late goal from Dustin Brown which deflected off of Suter’s skate, but Rinne made some key saves after that to seal the win.
• You talk about pressure for the bottom-six guys, but with a faceoff specialist in Guastad coming in, Fisher and Legwand stepped it up in the dot tonight. Legwand won eight of his 15 draws tonight, and Fisher went 11/19.
• Barry Trotz and co. will have a lot of interesting decisions to make tomorrow. Who gets scratched or sent down to make room for Kostitsyn and Gaustad? Does Ryan Ellis crack the defense after the game Jack Hillen played tonight?

Box Score – Game Summary – Event Summary – Corsi Numbers – Shots On Goal Chart

Who was your Predator of the game?