Ryan O'Reilly and the Nashville Predators had some rough games early in the 2024-25 campaign. In fact, the Predators failed to win in any of their first five games. Nashville has turned things around to some extent. However, that turnaround was not evident on Monday night when they fell 3-0 to the Los Angeles Kings in front of their home fans.
O'Reilly dropped the gloves on Monday against Los Angeles. But overall, it was a rough game for the veteran Predators forward. O'Reilly himself feels the same, as he did not mince words when talking about his performance following the game. “I think that was one of the worst games of my career… I was pathetic,” O'Reilly said, via Nashville reporter Alex Daugherty.
Overall, O'Reilly has had a fine start to the year. He had three goals and nine points in 11 games for Nashville entering play Monday. However, he was on the ice for two of the three goals his team allowed. And he lost a team-high 11 faceoffs against the Kings.
Ryan O'Reilly, Predators have no answer for Kings
Ryan O'Reilly was not the only Predators player to struggle on Monday. Nashville played a generally poor game and failed to generate much against the Kings. In fact, they generated just 16 shots on goal against Los Angeles goalie Darcy Kuemper.
The Kings opened their account in the first period thanks to team legend Anze Kopitar. The future Hall of Famer scored his fifth goal of the season from below the goal line. It was a bad angle shot that seemed to hit Predators goalie Juuse Saros and go into the net.
Nashville held the Kings scoreless in the second period. However, they failed to keep Los Angeles from padding their lead in the final frame. In fact, Kevin Fiala needed just 35 seconds to make it a 2-0 lead with his sixth of the season. Later on, Adrian Kempe put the puck into the empty net to put the finishing touches on the Kings' seventh win of the year.
Nashville has fallen to 4-7-1 on the young 2024-25 campaign. However, they had won four of their last six games before Monday's loss. It's entirely possible they can put this game behind them when they hit the ice next. In saying this, they need to put in a better effort. They won't defeat the Washington Capitals on Wednesday without a better all-around effort. Especially on the road in the American capital city.
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