James Neal

Predators look to stay hot against Kings (Dec 22, 2016)

Published Dec. 22, 2016 12:59 a.m. ET

Perhaps it was the presence of their fathers on their road trip to Philadelphia and New Jersey. Maybe it was a case of good timing to catch a pair of opponents who were either due for a fall or simply not very good. Or it might have been just time for the Nashville Predators to play well on the road.

In any event, Nashville swept the road trip, leaving it with a better chance to salvage what was shaping up as a rough December. The Predators try to finish the week 3-0-0 on Thursday night when they host the Los Angeles Kings in Bridgestone Arena.

After entering the quick trip only 3-9-2 away from the Music City, Nashville (15-12-5) registered a 2-1 shootout victory Monday night over the Flyers, then stomped the Devils 5-1 on Tuesday. The Predators were solid defensively in both games, giving them three straight contests with one goal allowed after yielding at least three in nine straight games, and upped their December record to 4-4-2.

"It was probably our cleanest, strongest road win of the year," Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said of the game in New Jersey.

While the Devils aren't exactly an elite opponent, every aspect of the Predators' game passed muster Tuesday. James Neal's two first-period goals gave them the early lead for the first time in seven games. The defense corps played a third straight good game without P.K. Subban (upper-body injury), and backup goalie Juuse Saros was just a garbage-time goal away from his first career shutout.

"We had a good start to the game," said defenseman Mattias Ekholm, who scored his first goal of the season with a booming point blast in the second period. "An early goal from Nealer, and then he just followed it up again, that's a big start on the road."

That's the kind of start Los Angeles (16-13-3) is probably hoping for in game six of nine straight on the road in a trip that opened Dec. 13, takes a break for Christmas after Friday night's match in Dallas and concludes Dec. 29 in Edmonton.

The Kings are 2-2-1 during their lengthy journey, eating a tough 3-2 shootout loss Tuesday night in Columbus. They pumped 46 shots on net to the Blue Jackets' 27 and won 32 of 62 faceoffs, but couldn't solve backup goalie Curtis McElhinney.

"We've got to put the puck in the net," Los Angeles center Jeff Carter said. "We had a lot of good chances. I thought we did a lot of good things. We played well enough to win."

Even Kings coach Darryl Sutter, known for his brevity in post-game scrums after losses, couldn't find much bad to say about his team after they controlled play against a team which has 10 straight wins and only five regulation losses this season.

"We played a really strong game. We came back against a team that's lost only five games, I believe, all season," Sutter said.

This will be the teams' second meeting of the season. Los Angeles won the first matchup 3-2 on Oct. 27 with an overtime marker from Carter.