LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Kings (36-20) turned a sleeper into a stunner after an overtime goal by forward Quinton Byfield gave the Kings the win over the Nashville Predators (25-33) Saturday, March 15 at Crypto.com Arena.
The game was a homecoming for Predators defenseman Andreas Englund, who returned to Crypto.com Arena after playing two seasons for the Kings before joining the Predators.
The first period was the least active of the first three regulation periods. The Kings applied occasional pressure to the Predators’ goaltender, but only managed four shots-on-goal in the first.
The game remained similarly uneventful on the Los Angeles side until the closing minutes of the third period. The Kings began to pick up some momentum, keeping the puck on the Nashville side of the ice. While Los Angeles kept up the pressure, none of their shots landed and the game went into overtime after remaining scoreless all 60 minutes of regulation.
The Predators managed to threaten the Kings in turn as the third period wound down. Nashville was mobbing the King’s net and hammering the puck around. Nashville managed a shot-on-goal and Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper made a game-saving block to keep the game scoreless with just 17 seconds left in the third period.
Kuemper put on a clinic for the Kings, shutting out the Predators with 24 saves. It was Kuemper and the Kings’ second-straight shutout.
Kuemper’s performance earned him a milestone: the victory was his 200 career win.
“He’s [Kuemper] had an exceptional season so far,” Kings head coach Jim Hiller said of Kuemper in a postgame press conference.
Los Angeles upped the intensity in overtime, pushing hard to get close to the Nashville net.
That pressure paid off for the Kings at the 3:20 mark in overtime. Forward Adrian Kempe pushed up the left side of the net and crossed the puck to Byfield, who flicked his wrist and slipped the puck past the Nashville goaltender, who hadn’t yet fully turned around from blocking Kempe, for the first goal of the game for either team and the overtime dagger to win it for the Kings 1-0.
“He’s a good player who’s getting better,” Hiller said of Byfield in a postgame press conference. “I think he’s been a difference maker for us for some time.”
Los Angeles goes on the road for their next game, a matchup against the Minnesota Wild Monday, March 17 at 5 pm.