LOS ANGELES (AP) -Francis Bouillon, Cody Franson and Joel Ward scored to lead the Nashville Predators to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday.
Dan Ellis made 27 saves in his first start since Oct. 28, when he was pulled by coach Barry Trotz early in the second period after giving up three goals on 10 shots in a game the Predators rallied to win 4-3 at Minnesota.
The Predators opened the scoring at 16:38 of the second period while Raitis Ivanans was off for hooking Jordin Tootoo. Franson fired wide on a one-timer from the right point, but Bouillon beat forward Wayne Simmonds to the loose puck after it caromed off the end boards and beat Jon Quick from a sharp angle on the power play for his 22nd goal in 10-plus NHL seasons.
Franson, playing in his ninth NHL game, scored his second goal of the season on a slap shot from just inside the blue line with 15:08 remaining to give the Predators a 2-0 lead after Martin Erat circled the net with the puck and fed it out to the right point. Erat returned to the lineup after missing three games with a lower-body injury.
The Kings got on the board with 11:35 to play as Dustin Brown scored his sixth of the season during a power play.
But Ward restored Nashville's two-goal margin just 80 seconds later when he tucked the puck inside the right post after Quick and teammate Anze Kopitar got tangled up with David Legwand outside the crease.
Nashville played without defenseman Shea Weber, right wing J.P. Dumont and rookie center Colin Wilson because of injuries.
NOTES: Luc Robitaille, who scored 557 his 668 career goals in a Kings uniform and is currently the club's president of business operations, will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday. In both of their games at Staples Center last season, the Predators got the game-winning goal in the final 2 1/2 minutes of regulation - one from Dumont, the other from Ryan Jones. ... The Kings begin a five-game road trip Monday night at Chicago. It will be their longest of the season.
