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Kings after one period: Kings 2, Nashville 0

By Helene Elliott
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This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The Predators are usually a scrappy, competitive team, but they put up surprisingly little resistance in the first period Saturday at Staples Center as the Kings took a 2-0 lead.

Anze Kopitar scored first, at 4:11, on a well-executed goal off the rush. Dustin Brown sent Kopitar in on the left side and he went wide on Cody Franson before letting loose a slap shot from about 35 feet out that sailed over Pekka Rinne’s left arm.

Brown made it 2-0 at the 13-minute mark. Scott Parse began the play in the Kings’ zone and made a cross-ice pass to Brown. Nashville defenseman Shane O’Brien was with him and Brown’s shot glanced off O’Brien’s stick before eluding Rinne.

Ryan Smyth almost joined the scoring parade at 15:05 with a point-blank chance but Rinne reached out with his glove and got his body in front of the puck to stop it.

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The Kings had an 11-7 edge in shots in the period. Jonathan Bernier, making his fourth start, was rarely pressured.

More later at www.latimes.com/sports

--Helene Elliott

Sports Now
Helene Elliott

Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics.

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