Roman Josi scored 18 seconds into overtime after Pekka Rinne gave up three goals in the final 2:01 of regulation, and the Nashville Predators eked out a wild 7-6 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.
Mike Fisher and Colin Wilson scored goals 1:22 apart in the first period, Mattias Ekholm and Mark Acrobello scored 1:41 apart in the second, and the Predators also got goals from Ryan Ellis and Olli Jokinen in opening a 5-1 lead. Rinne finished with 24 saves.
Josi took a cross-ice pass from rookie Filip Forsberg as he was cruising down the slot and beat Martin Jones to the stick side with a 25-foot wrist shot, the first shot of overtime.
Dwight King, Alec Martinez and Jeff Carter each scored during the Kings' late third-period burst. The defending Stanley Cup champions began a seven-game homestand after pulling out a 3-2 win at Vancouver on Thursday night with two goals in the final 2:07.
King and Martinez both scored earlier, and Matt Greene also tallied for the Kings.
The Predators overtook the idle Chicago Blackhawks for the Central Division lead, scoring on three of their first nine shots against Jonathan Quick and chasing him to the bench after Ellis' power play goal gave Nashville a 3-1 lead at 9:43 of the opening period.
So you’re tellin’ me there’s a chance? pic.twitter.com/t2p1SjuPkR
— LA Kings (@LAKings) January 3, 2015
King ignited the late rally with his seventh goal on a 15-foot wrist shot. Martinez added his fifth of the season on a 55-foot slap shot with 1:04 remaining, and Carter completed the Kings' comeback on a 15-foot slap shot with 34 seconds left in the third period.
Greene beat Rinne with a screened 60-foot wrist shot just 32 seconds into the game after Mike Richards won a faceoff from Paul Gaustad deep in the Nashville zone.
The predators, though, scored the next five goals.
Fisher tied it at 4:54 of the first, jumping on a loose puck in the crease after Josi's wrist shot from the left point hit traffic in front. Wilson was awarded his 11th goal at the 6:16 mark when his intended centering pass for Fisher from behind the net deflected in off Greene's stick.
You can’t solve all of your problems at once. 5-2. Chip, chip, chip pic.twitter.com/1vfdirVx7Q
— LA Kings (@LAKings) January 3, 2015
Ellis, on his 24th birthday, got his fourth of the season, a power-play goal on a one-timer from the left point. It was the Predators' eighth power play goal in their last 10 games, following an eight-game stretch in which they were 0 for 27.
Jones, seeing his first action in net since Dec. 12, gave up Ekholm's goal on a wrist shot from the right point that changed direction off the stick of Kings defenseman Drew Doughty. Arcobello, making his Predators debut after he was acquired in a trade with Edmonton for Derek Roy on Monday, made it 5-1 with a wrist shot from the left circle at 3:57 of the second.
NOTES: Nashville has won 25 of its first 37 games under coach Peter Laviolette. He didn't reach that total until his 50th game with the Islanders (2001-02), his 73rd game with the Hurricanes (2003-04) and his 49th game with the Flyers (2009-10). ... The Kings have been short-handed no more than three times in any of their last 12 games, but have allowed 10 power play goals during that stretch. ... Fourteen of the Kings' 21 losses have been by one goal.
