The battle for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference will continue on Thursday night when the Los Angeles Kings host the Nashville Predators.
Los Angeles defeated the visiting St. Louis Blues 2-1 in overtime on Wednesday night to leapfrog Nashville for the second wild card from the West.
The Kings (30-26-18, 78 points) and Predators (34-31-9, 77 points) each have eight games remaining, including another matchup on Monday in Los Angeles.
The San Jose Sharks, meanwhile, scored two goals in the final two minutes to beat the Pacific Division-leading Anaheim Ducks 4-3 on Wednesday night to stay one point behind the Kings with nine games left.
“Everyone definitely looks at the standings, but just taking one game at a time and you can’t look too far ahead of yourself,” Kings forward Jared Wright said after his team’s victory. “Otherwise, I think, you’re going to run into trouble. We obviously just flush this one, even with the win, and we’ve got to move on to Nashville. It’s a huge game for us, and we can use the two points.”
The Predators have lost three games in a row following a five-game winning streak that had lifted them into the second wild-card spot.
Nashville will play in San Jose on Saturday before returning to Los Angeles for a rematch on Monday. The Predators then will wrap up its trip with games in Anaheim and Utah, two teams ahead of them in the standings.
“We’ve got a big one coming up here against the team that’s right with us,” Predators forward Steven Stamkos said. “We understand the magnitude of those games, but we’ll start with the one that’s coming up here against L.A. and go from there. Obviously, they’re a team that is playing just as important games as us. So we’re going to get their best, they’re going to get our best.”
Nashville opened its six-game road trip with a 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday.
The break in the schedule allowed the Predators to return home to relax for a few days before heading to California.
“You’ve got to enjoy these moments,” Nashville captain Roman Josi said. “One day you look back, these are the games that you’re going to look back on and games you enjoy the most. So, yeah, we’re going to have fun with it.”
Despite seeing his team reside outside of the playoffs, Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said he is encouraged with where his club stands.
“We’re in a really good spot,” he said. “Nobody expected us to be here. We put in a lot of work to get here, we should feel good about ourselves, and we should have a lot of energy. I mean, this is why you play.”
Kings forward Trevor Moore used his speed to score in overtime against the Blues.
“He’s dangerous, he’s scoring and, as you can see, that speed is a big difference,” Los Angeles interim coach D.J. Smith said.
