Filip Forsberg scores twice as Predators blank Kings

LOS ANGELES  — The Los Angeles Kings entered Tuesday night seeking a bounce-back victory following Saturday’s loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins and looking to establish consistency on home ice.

Instead, the club's offensive droughts resurfaced as Los Angeles was shut out for the first time this season, falling 3-0 to the Nashville Predators at Crypto.com Arena.

The frustration surrounding another quiet night from the offense was evident after the game.

"I think everybody’s probably frustrated," head coach Peter Laviolette said. "We’re here to win hockey games and we’re not getting that done."

In a unique matchup featuring a battle of matching surnames — Nashville forward Filip Forsberg facing off against Los Angeles goaltender Anton Forsberg — the Predators' star winger got the upper hand over his counterpart, striking twice to pave the way for a Nashville road win.

Coming into the contest, both clubs averaged exactly 3.00 goals per game, reflecting similar scoring metrics on paper. On Tuesday night, however, Nashville simply executed when opportunities arose while the Kings failed to convert on their own looks.

"There were point blank chances and rebound chances and just not able to capitalize," Laviolette said. "I don’t think we made the plays quick enough."

The Predators broke the ice midway through the opening frame off an unforced error. Nils Hoglander intercepted a pass from Kings defenseman Brian Dumoulin and led a two-on-one odd-man rush down the ice, feeding Filip Forsberg, who buried a one-timer to put Nashville ahead with 14:40 remaining in the first period.

Dakota Gray – The Sporting Tribune

The Nashville Predators players celebrate a goal during their game against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, in Los Angeles.

After Los Angeles closed the first period strong and carried momentum into the middle frame, the Hoglander-to-Forsberg connection struck again.

Halfway through the second period, Hoglander centered a pass to the two-time All-Star at the faceoff dot, where the 32-year-old Swede snapped a shot top-shelf for his seventh goal of the season, doubling the Predators' cushion.

An empty-net tally by Adam Wilsby with under two minutes remaining slammed the door on a disappointing night for Los Angeles, dropping the club to 5-9-2 on the year and leaving the locker room searching for answers.

"I think [we] didn't feel connected out there at all," winger Adrian Kempe said. "Overall, pretty disappointed."

While Anton Forsberg kept the Kings within striking distance, Predators goalie Juuse Saros delivered a flawless performance at the opposite end, stopping all 30 shots he faced to record his first shutout of the season.

When the offense sputters, wins are hard to come by for Los Angeles. Plain and simple.

In Laviolette's first season behind the bench, the Kings are 0-8-1 when scoring two goals or fewer, spotlighting a concerning trend early in the campaign. Los Angeles has struggled to extract wins from tightly contested, low-scoring games — finding success only when the offense is humming.

Despite surrendering two goals to his namesake counterpart, Anton Forsberg stood tall as one of the brightest spots on the ice for Los Angeles, turning aside 27 of 29 shots.

Yet when the veteran goalie gets the nod, run support remains elusive. In his six starts this season, the Kings are 0-5-1 while averaging a subpar 1.5 goals per game.

"He’s played good for us," center Scott Laughton said of Forsberg’s effort. "We need to find a way to find sustained zone time in the offensive zone, wear teams down, where they’re tired and we three-quarter ice them. It’s just not happening right now."

In order to climb out of their losing ways, individual accountability across the lineup will be essential moving forward.

"I haven’t been good enough," Laughton said. "I need to bring more to this group and I’m sure a lot of guys would say the same."

Despite the early-season adversity, the sentiment inside the locker room remains focused on constantly improving and keeping the energy high.

"We're a good hockey team," Laughton said. "I believe that. We've got to have that belief in the group and we’ve got to continue to push forward here."