Budaj's 28 saves lead Kings over Predators 4-0 (Dec 22, 2016)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) Peter Budaj made 28 saves to lead the Los Angeles Kings to a 4-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night.

Nick Shore, Nic Dowd, Jeff Carter and Devin Setoguchi scored for Los Angeles. Playing the sixth of their season-long nine-game road swing, the Kings improved their record to 3-2-1 on the current trip.

Budaj made 12 saves in the first period, nine in the second and seven in the third en route to his fourth shutout of the season and 15th of his career.

Pekka Rinne made 21 saves for Nashville, whose two-game winning streak came to an end.

Shore scored the game's first goal at 6:33 of the opening period.

Jordan Nolan carried the puck into the low slot and sent a pass to Shore in the right faceoff circle. Shore attempted to pass it back to Nolan, but the puck deflected off the stick of Nashville's Mike Ribeiro and past Rinne.

The score remained 1-0 into the third, when Dowd and Carter scored 9 seconds apart.

Dowd, who grew up 100 miles south of Nashville in Huntsville, Alabama, connected from the left faceoff circle at 4:25 with a wrist shot that squeezed just underneath Rinne's leg pad.

After winning the ensuing faceoff against Ribeiro, Carter carried the puck down the right side and snapped a shot by Rinne for his team-leading 17th goal of the season.

Setoguchi connected at 11:39 of the third off a nice pass from Kings captain Anze Kopitar just outside Rinne's crease.

Notes: Predators D P.K. Subban missed his fourth consecutive game with an upper-body injury. . Nashville C Calle Jarnkrok played in his 200th career NHL game. . The Kings have not allowed a power-play goal in eight consecutive games. . Carter has 25 points in 24 career games against Nashville.

UP NEXT:

Kings: Travel to Dallas on Friday

Predators: Face Minnesota at home on Tuesday