Game Day Thread
Game #77/82 - 4/6/26
>>7:30pm<<
on
FanDuel SoCal
Nashville Predators vs. Los Angeles Kings
Crypto.com Arena | Los Angeles, CA
NARUTO TICKET PACK
**Game Time 4:00pm**
TV: FanDuel SoCal
Radio: ESPN LA app, Kings app, & Sirius
ESPNLA 710 AM
Check Out More Articles & Video on LA Kings Insider Here
Adrian Kempe & DJ Smith 4/4 Post-Game Quotes
On the overtime game-winning goal
On that play, 3-on-2, him and Bread were connected, I tried to find one of them and then a great pass by Bread to him back door. Q has been playing really, really well for us. That’s what we’re going to have to need from him. Obviously it’s pressure, but he’s that good, so it’s something that we need for the rest of the stretch here to get into the playoffs. He’s been playing great, so it’s a lot of fun to watch for us.
On three goals in 96 seconds that flipped the game in the third
Yeah, it was great. Even going into the third, we were down one, but we’re talking about it, we were playing well, it’s just small details. We made some mistakes out there too that really cost us, but I think on the other side of it, I thought we were creating a lot of chances as well and we said going into the third. You stick with it, we’re going to get scoring chances. Obviously, we did go up and then they came back again, that was obviously not the game plan, but I think once again, we showed tonight and last game that just the way the team stuck with it tonight and really wanted to win. That was the most important thing tonight, to get to two points, doesn’t matter what the score was or how we played.
On a four-point night and his production as of late
It’s hard to say, but just keep it simple. I’m playing with really good players and I’m just trying to get open and do my work out there and not try to think about it too much. It’s crucial games that we have to play, so obviously I’m happy that I can contribute and do my part.
On the style of play tonight and whether or not that matters at this point in the season
I think we’ve played good enough defensively throughout the season, where we have had a lot of 2-1, 3-2, games. Obviously, we would like to score seven every night and not let up six. but at this time right now, everybody wants and need the points. Obviously I don’t think every game is going to be 7-6 for the rest of the year, but sometimes we have one of these and obviously it’s good that we’re on the right side of it for once. I think we’ve worked hard enough throughout this year where we haven’t had a lot of games that go our way, especially these types of games as well. I think we deserved this one tonight, I think it feels good. We didn’t plat maybe our best game, but getting the points, that’s what gives you confidence, and that’s what we need right now.
D.J. Smith
His overall thoughts on the win
That’s a really weird game. We created a ton and just shot ourselves in the foot. 6-4 lead, we just made some poor decisions with the puck. But if we played great and we lost 3-2 tonight to a top goaltending display, I’d sit here and not feel any better with a moral victory. So we’re going to take that and 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.
On lineup decisions that he will need to make in the coming days
Well, I’m going to talk to Mike Buckley, and I’m going to talk to management, I’m going to talk to everyone involved, and see where we’re going with our lineup in general, not just him. I mean, there were some guys that played really well, then there were some guys that didn’t play well at all. 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.
On what he would have liked to see differently from his team
It’s a hard one, because when you say you don’t play good, you didn’t play good in certain scenarios. Our power play could have scored, I don’t know how many, we had 13 shots we had Grade-A chances. Penalty kill would like one back, probably. Then there was just some broken plays where we turn pucks over, but there were stretches of the game where we had the puck for countless minutes, chances, rush plays. For a team that doesn’t score a lot, we created a ton of opportunity.
On tightening up the defensive end of the team’s game
We’ll the one thing about the LA Kings is, we know how to play defense. And there’s one thing you can do is tighten it up. And there’s guys back there and guys on this team that know how to play defense, and that’s something we’re going to have to address is, we got to make sure we’re giving up less. We give up 20 shots, but the grades of the chances, are they rush chances? But in saying that, again, a lot of the forwards are playing their best hockey of the year offensively right now.
On the play of the Laferriere, Byfield, Moore line
That line has been really good. Q gets two tonight. I mean, when your top two lines score like that, typically you win that game going away, you just don’t like the way you won. But, Lou Lamouello told me you never critique a win. And you know, you play 10 games, the best teams in league win six or seven times out of 10. And you critique those four losses or three losses, you start picking on the wins, before you know what you’re critiquing everything.
On the play of the fourth line after they were reunited
They play together. They like playing with each other. I wish I could get them out there more, it’s just the special teams is what happened. When those guys play 10 minutes, we’re a pretty good team. That means we’re rolling over the bench. But when you’re down, you know you’re forced to lean on some of the big dogs a little more in saying that, the big dogs got the job done.
Lineups Courtesy of DailyFaceoff.com
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PREDATORS PROBABLE LINEUP
NO Former Kings
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GOALTENDING COMPARISON
WESTERN CONF WILD CARD STANDINGS
**Bet your Karma & Win (or lose) Fake Money in the VBookie Thread Here**
**POLL QUESTION GAME**
Part 1 - Who will score the FIRST GOAL of the game for either team?
Part 2 - Who will score the GAME WINNING GOAL?
You can take 8 guesses per part, but maximum 6 per team per part
(so 4&4, 5&3, or 6&2)
PREVIOUS GAME'S WINNERS
No one was crazy enough to guess a 7-6 Win!
POLL GAME WIN TOTALS
King of the Mountain - 71 points
DRice
67 points
KernCoKingFan
64 points
VegasHockey
63 points
motolare
62 points
Angel Eyes
Cross Traffic
61 points
Chateau Bow Wow
Drum4Pigs
Nyssa42
57 points
Rusty
56 points
Birdman
jammer06
VCRW
55 points
Forum Gold
pray4mojo
Rogie-Vachon
54 points
dannybuoy1
SirJW
53 points
Clif
Guinevere
mugs
52 points
Liz4LA
50 points
Hockey53
randdog
48 points
hornman
46 points
DRGinLBC
empire
HiFi
44 points
Dr. Tran
McSorleyFan
43 points
notbob
40 points
CIrvine
sonnyboy11
37 points
RoS
symbology
TooCool
28 points
beady eye
26 points
Shackleford
20 pts
ICE24
Rog or Reg?
15 points
The Nuts
