Los Angeles, Ca (SportsNetwork.com) - Craig Smith tied the game in the third and Viktor Stalberg tallied the winner as the Nashville Predators defeated the Los Angeles Kings, 2-1, on Saturday night.
Pekka Rinne stopped 19 shots for the Predators, who had lost seven of their last eight.
"We did a good job of getting in front of the goalie tonight. It makes it tough on him," said Smith.
Jeff Carter scored for Los Angeles, while Jonathan Quick made 20 stops in the loss.
Nashville was held off the board over the first two periods, but the Predators scored two quick goals early in the third to take the lead.
Nick Shore went off for closing his hand on the puck at 4:43 and Smith tied the game toward the end of the power play with a wrist shot.
Stalberg then tallied his first of the season 1:06 later as he wristed one past Quick to put the Predators out in front.
Los Angeles pulled Quick in the closing minutes, but it could not sneak one past Rinne as the Preds held on.
"Any game at this time of year is tough to lose," said Kings forward Dwight King.
Matthias Ekholm was sent to the box for hooking Anze Kopitar and Carter made the Predators pay, beating Rinne with a wrist shot off a rebound 7:44 into the first.
Game Notes
The win marked the 600th for the Predators in franchise history ... Rinne won his 200th game in the NHL ... The Kings had their five-game point streak snapped ... Nashville has allowed four power play goals on 11 chances over its last three games.
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