Not much has changed since the last time the Los Angeles Kings and Nashville Predators met.
The Kings and Predators remain neck-and-neck for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference heading into their final matchup of the regular season on Monday night in Los Angeles.
The Predators (36-31-9, 81 points) enter the week clinging to that final wild card, but are tied in points with the Kings (31-26-19, 81 points) with six games left for each.
Nashville owns the tiebreaker because it owns 26 wins in regulation this season, compared to 19 for Los Angeles.
“There’s a lot of belief right now,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said.
The San Jose Sharks (79 points) and Winnipeg Jets (78) are also well within striking distance.
When Los Angeles hosted the Predators on Thursday, the Kings held the final wild-card spot by one point over Nashville before the Predators won 5-4 in a shootout to move into a points’ deadlock.
Both teams then went out and won key games on Saturday.
The Predators knocked off the Sharks 6-3, and the Kings defeated the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs 7-6 in overtime.
Los Angeles dug out of an early 2-0 hole against the already-eliminated Maple Leafs, only to surrender a two-goal third-period lead. The Kings then went beyond regulation for an NHL record 31st time this season before Quinton Byfield won it in overtime.
“We’re going to take the two points, and then we’re just going to throw the tape away and we’re going to move on to the next one,” Kings coach D.J. Smith said after the win.
Smith said there could be some lineup changes based on how inconsistent his team played against the Maple Leafs.
“There were some guys that played really well, then there were some guys that didn’t play well at all,” Smith said. “So, there has to be accountability for how you play and if there’s somebody that can come in and help us, we’re going to do it.”
Byfield will likely keep his spot centering the second line.
He scored twice against the Maple Leafs for his fourth multi-point game in the past seven games.
“Q has been playing really, really well for us,” Kings forward Adrian Kempe said. “That’s what we’re going to have to need from him. It’s something that we need for the rest of the stretch here, especially in the regular season, to get into the playoffs.”
Nashville surrendered a three-goal lead in its win against the Sharks on Saturday, but responded with three unanswered goals in the third period to earn two wins in a row to start the five-game West Coast trip (the six-game road swing began with a loss in Tampa on March 29).
“I thought in the third period, we kind of got back to our game,” Brunette said. “It was pretty evident, when we do certain things, the kind of team we can be.”
Now, the Predators head into a key back-to-back set at the Kings and the Anaheim Ducks, who have lost five in a row to lose their grip atop the Pacific Division.
“It’s the best time of year to play hockey,” Brunette said on Saturday. “Get to go into another hard building (on Monday) and play a team we had just played two nights ago, and it’s the best time of year to play and we’re excited for that challenge.”
The Predators also won a 5-4 decision over the Kings in a shootout on Oct. 25.
