Oct 17, 2000 

GOAL SCORING:

1ST PRD:  NONE
2ND PRD: LOS - CRAIG JOHNSON 1 (BOB CORKUM) 3:34
                 NAS - VITALI YACHMENEV 3 (DAVID LEGWAND, CALE HULSE) 12:36
3RD PRD: NONE
          OT: NONE

POWER-PLAY CONVERSIONS: LOS - 0 OF 4, NAS - 0 OF 6.

SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD OT TOTAL
                                ---    ---    ---    ---    -----
                    LOS       9     9      6     2      26
                    NAS    10      9    14     2      35

GOALIES: LOS - STEVE PASSMORE
                 NAS - MIKE DUNHAM

OFFICIALS: REF - KOWAL, MURPHY
                    LIN - NELSON, MCELMAN

ATT: 13,594 

Box Score

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: T Fitzgerald, Nas (boarding), 4:35; Johnson, Nas (goalie interference), 7:15; Berg, L.A. (slashing), 12:19; Houlder, Nas (tripping), 14:30.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Los Angeles, Johnson 1 (Corkum), 3:34. 2, Nashville, Yachmenev 3 (Hulse, Legwand), 12:36. Penalties: Timonen, Nas (holding), 5:13; Johnson, L.A. (interference), 7:53.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: Berg, L.A. (holding), 5:27; Corkum, L.A. (interference), 10:28; Johnson, L.A. (hooking), 16:27.

OVERTIME -- Scoring: None. Penalties: Karalahti, L.A. (holding), 3:54.

Shots on goal:
------------------------------------
Los Angeles   9 9  6 2--26
Nashville     10 9 14 2--35
------------------------------------

Power-play Conversions: Los - 0 of 4, Nas - 0 of 6. Goalies: Los Angeles, Passmore (35 shots, 34 saves; record: 1-1-1). Nashville, Dunham (26, 25; record: 2-0-1). A:13,594. Referees: Kowal, Murphy. Linesmen: Nelson, Mcelman. 

Los Angeles has limited opponents to one goal or less in four of its first six games but was held to its lowest output of the season. The Kings had produced 21 goals in their previous four contests.

Yachmenev, who played for the Kings from 1995-98, got a fortunate bounce and tied it at 12:36 of the second period. After he and Passmore both swung and missed at a rolling puck in the slot, Yachmenev picked it up and flipped it into the vacated net for his third goal of the season.

"I saw Passmore come out and I tried to lift his stick, which I did, and I was able to put it into the open net," Yachmenev said.

"The puck bounced in front of me," Passmore said. "I dove and tried to pop it over his stick, but he popped it over mine."

Nashville peppered Passmore with 14 shots in the third period but could not get anything by him. He finished with 34 saves, including a sliding pad stop on Scott Walker with just under four minutes left in regulation before surviving a goalmouth scramble two minutes later.

"Nashville is a tough team to play against, they crash the net really well," Passmore said.

Not to be outdone, Mike Dunham of the Predators made a spectacular glove save on rookie Lubomir Visnovski with 1:38 left in overtime. He came up with a similar stop on Glen Murray's breakaway late in the second period and finished with 25 saves.

"With the lineup (the Kings) have, you expect a few breakaways and good scoring chances," Dunham said. "(We) played a fantastic game. It gives us confidence knowing we can play against this team."

The Predators had a power play late in the extra session when Kings defenseman Jere Karalahti was penalized for holding, but they could not muster any offense. They failed to convert any of their six power-play chances, falling to 1-for-23 this season.

"Both goaltenders played excellent tonight," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "Passmore made good saves, but Dunham made better ones. Both of the goals given up tonight were probably the weakest chances each team had. Both teams got stronger as the game went on."

Craig Johnson scored the lone goal for Los Angeles, beating Dunham from the top of the right circle off a faceoff win by Bob Corkum.

"We had our chances tonight," Kings left wing Luc Robitaille said. "Any other night, we could have had three or four (goals)."

At 3-1-1, Nashville is off to the best start in its three-year history.

"Nashville has only lost one game this year, so they are playing very solid hockey," Los Angeles coach Andy Murray said. "Some of their younger players have improved and the organization made a good move in sticking with their young guys."

Los Angeles, which began a four-game road trip, played without star defenseman Rob Blake, who on Monday was diagnosed with a hairline fracture of his lumbar vertebrae.

"I think whenever you don't have one of the best defensemen in the league, you are going to hurt," Andy Murray said. "If he wasn't there and I wasn't calling his name out, some of the other guys stepped up and battled hard."

The 30-year-old Blake and his team also are off to a strong start. He had two goals and seven points in six games and the Kings have scored at least four goals in five of six contests.

"It's happened before," Robitaille said. "We are going to have to learn to play without him."