Brown, Kopitar propel Kings past Oilers 5-2

Anze Kopitar scored the game-winning goal to cap a three-point outing, and Dustin Brown collected a hat trick as the host Los Angeles Kings snapped a two-game losing skid by beating the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 on Sunday night. With the score tied 2-2 after two periods, Derek Forbort made a great pass to spring Kopitar on a breakaway, and the Kings captain snapped a blocker-side shot into the net at the 4:27 mark of the third period for his seventh goal of the season. Goalie Cal Petersen, who made 32 saves, held strong between the pipes the rest of the way for the Kings - who sit last in the league - before Brown iced the affair with the first of his team’s two empty-net goals into final minute.Through two periods, it was a tale of two snipers.Brown opened the scoring at 7:56 of the first period with a tap-in tally. Kopitar led the attack on an odd-man rush, then fed a cross-crease pass that Brown easily slipped home.Alex Chiasson put the Oilers on the board on the power play at 13:19. Chiasson set up shop at the doorstop, and Connor McDavid’s pass to the front of the net banked off Chiasson’s leg and into the cage.Chiasson gave the Oilers a 2-1 lead at 2:16 of the second period with another goal that came from being at the net. Defenseman Oscar Klefbom drove down from the point position and put the puck to the front, where Chiasson was on the spot to find the loose puck and tuck it home for his 10th tally of the season.However, Brown’s second of the night on the power play at 4:13 of the middle frame tied the affair. Kopitar button-hooked at the wall before firing a cross-ice pass to Brown for the one-timer. Kings rookie Matt Luff also scored with an empty net, which gives him goals in four consecutive games - the first four tallies of his NHL career. Cam Talbot stopped 27 shots for the Oilers, who have just one win in their past five games.Watson’s hat-trick outscores Ducks in Predators’ winAustin Watson recorded his first career hat-trick and the Nashville Predators defeated the visiting Anaheim Ducks 5-2 on Sunday night.Nick Bonino had a goal and an assist, Colton Sissons and Roman Josi had two assists each, and Pekka Rinne made 17 saves for the Predators, who won their sixth straight game at home and fourth in the last five games overall. Adam Henrique and Ondrej Kase scored for the Ducks, who opened a five-game road trip after playing 11 of the previous 13 games at home. John Gibson made 28 saves.The Ducks committed six minor penalties in the second period, and Watson scored on the final power play to give the Predators a 3-1 lead at 18:36.Kase scored with eight seconds left in the second period following a turnover in the Nashville zone to cut the deficit to 3-2, but Nashville scored its sixth power-play goal in the past five games to make it 4-2 at 2:52 of the third period.After Ryan Johansen won a faceoff in the Anaheim zone, Mattias Ekholm took a shot from the point. The rebound came out to the slot, where Craig Smith swept it into the net to reestablish a two-goal lead. Watson scored his third goal - and fourth of the season - into an empty net for a 5-2 lead with 1:06 left.The Predators came in 12-0-0 when scoring first this season and they took a 1-0 lead at 11:04 of the first period on the first goal by Watson. Nashville had already killed two power plays when Sissons won a faceoff in the Anaheim zone. Bonino got to the puck first and immediately took a shot from the high slot.