Kevin Lankinen backstopped the Nashville Predators to a 2-1 shootout victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena.
It was Lankinen’s first shootout as a member of the Predators. He made 26 saves in goal for Nashville, who moved to 32-24-7 on the season.
THE STORY
Mikey Anderson got the Kings on the board first, firing a shot from the edge of the circle past Lankinen to give Los Angeles the 1-0 lead at 9:32 of the first period.
With Alex Iafallo in the box for tripping against Ryan McDonagh, the Predators got their first power-play opportunity with a minute remaining in the first period. It only took four seconds on the man advantage for Tommy Novak to net the equalizer for Nashville, sending a laser wrist shot past Pheonix Copley to tie the score at 1-1 heading into the first intermission.
Novak’s power-play tally would be the final goal scored in regulation, as two scoreless frames gave way to overtime and, ultimately, a shootout. Matt Duchene scored the lone goal in the shootout for the 2-1 final.
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