NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Nick Blankenburg scored at 1:03 of overtime to help the Nashville Predators to a 3-2 victory over the Kings on Saturday.
Aided by Kings defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov momentarily losing his stick, Blankenburg converted the rebound of a shot by Filip Forsberg for his first goal as a member of the Predators, who won for just the second time in nine overtime games this season.
Playing their sixth game of a seven-game trip, the Kings found a way to tie the game after falling behind 2-0 after two periods. Quinton Byfield and Alex Laferriere scored in the third to force overtime, and Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves for the Kings, who are 8-1-2 in their last 11 games.
The Kings went 0 for 1 on the power play. They have not scored a man-advantage goal in six games for an 0-for-10 stretch. They head north to visit the Washington Capitals on Sunday in the finale of their seven-game trip.
Zachary L’Heureux and Jonathan Marchessault also scored for Nashville. Justus Annunen, acquired from Colorado in a Nov. 30 trade, made 22 saves for his second win in three games with Nashville.
L’Heureux scored the game’s first goal with 5:44 remaining in the first. Roman Josi drove down the left side and beat Kings defenseman Kyle Burroughs with a toe drag before finding Marchessault in front for his third goal in as many games.
Marchessault had an apparent goal at 8:31 of the second negated by a hooking penalty. After serving that minor, he doubled Nashville’s lead at 14:00 of the second. He has five goals and three assists in a six-game points streak.