Nashville, TN (Sports Network) - Ryan Smyth tallied two goals as Los Angeles dismantled Nashville, 6-1, at Bridgestone Arena. Drew Doughty, Trevor Lewis and Alexei Ponikarovsky all notched a goal and an assist for the Kings, who have gone 2-1 during a five-game road trip. Justin Williams also lit the lamp, while Oscar Moller, Dustin Brown and Jarret Stoll each recorded two assists in the win. Jonathan Bernier turned aside 29- of-30 shots to earn the victory.
Steve Sullivan had the lone goal for the Predators, who had their season-long five-game winning streak snapped. Anders Lindback started the game for Nashville but was pulled after giving up three goals on nine shots. Mark Dekanich came on in relief midway through the first period and ended with 22 saves. "They won a few more battles early and took control of the game," Predators head coach Barry Trotz said.
The Kings attacked quickly when Williams scored only 15 ticks in. Brown led a two-man rush and centered it to Williams, who controlled the bouncing puck and wristed it in from the left side. Los Angeles added two more goals within 70 seconds of each other midway through the opening period. Lewis scored the first, which was also his second goal career NHL goal. Doughty got the second goal making the score 3-1 with nearly 10 minutes remaining.
Sullivan knocked in a goal off a Ryan Suter assist to put Nashville on the board 24 seconds later. But Los Angeles made it a 4-1 game at the 15:32 mark to end the high scoring first period when Smyth lit the lamp after fluttering a rebound over Dekanich's head. That was a power play score. Goals kept coming for the Kings when Moller recorded his season's first assist on a Ponikarovsky wrister during the first four minutes of the second stanza.
Smyth tallied his second goal of the game, making the score 6-1 at the 16:04 mark of the second period. The score remained the same during the final period, where Bernier made 10 saves and Dekanich had eight. Nashville had recorded a point in each of its last 10 games...The Kings were 1-for-3 on the power play, while killing all three of their penalties.
For more Kings news and analysis, be sure to read the SB Nation blog Jewels From The Crown.