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  Saturday, Oct. 2 8:00pm ET
Kings' Fiset shuts down Predators
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Starting the season with a seven-game road trip isn't easy. The Los Angeles Kings made their journey a little more enjoyable by getting a measure of revenge Saturday night.

Jozef Stumpel scored on the Kings' first power play and added an assist as they beat the Nashville Predators 2-0 in the teams' season opener. The Kings had lost the season series 3-1 to the then-expansion team last year.

"This was a real good measuring stick for our team to try and match Nashville's work ethic," said Los Angeles coach Andy Murray, victorious in his NHL head coaching debut.

Last season, the Kings didn't beat Nashville until the final week of the season. The team, revamped during the offseason, changed their luck Saturday night.

Murray had the Kings focused on the opener, and Los Angeles looked energized by the additions of players like right wing Ziggy Palffy and the return of defenseman Aki Berg. The Kings outshot Nashville 34-27, including 26-12 after two periods.

Stumpel scored on a wrist shot from the right circle at 4:10 of the first period, the Kings' second shot on goal, on assists from Luc Robitaille and Rob Blake. With the goal, Stumpel matched his power-play production of last season.

"We've got a lot different intensity this year," Robitaille said. "A lot of guys have a lot to prove."

The Kings, who are waiting for the Staples Center to open, added an insurance goal at 12:11 of the third when Stumpel found Robitaille breaking into the right post with a cross-ice pass for a 2-0 lead.

Goaltender Stephane Fiset recorded his 16th career shutout. Fiset stopped Tom Fitzgerald on a two-on-one and later stopped Kimmo Timonen in the first period. He also made big saves on Richard Lintner and Patrick Cote in the third.

Fiset liked the shutout, but he said he really appreciated the way the Kings played.

"If we play the way we did tonight, I think we're going to have lots of wins," Fiset said.

"Stephane was real solid," Murray said. "He didn't have anything to do for the first 40 minutes. They threw everything at us in the third period."

Nashville, shut out only five times in its inaugural season, took 15 shots on goal in the final period. A shot by Joel Bouchard bounced off the left post with 1:05 left.

Nashville looked sluggish despite a sellout crowd and celebrity cheerleaders Garth Brooks and Pam Tillis. The Predators, who had 63 points in their inaugural season, had trouble moving the puck into the offensive zone and wound up shut out for their second straight opener.

Fitzgerald called it disappointing.

"You're in your own building for your home opener and your fans are screaming. The city's turned upside down for this one team. It's very disappointing ... It wasn't fair to them," he said.

Sergei Krivokrasov, the leading goal scorer last year, missed an open net on a power play in the opening minutes of the second period.

 


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