The Tragically Hip famously said in song that “It can’t be Nashville Every Night.” What they meant, although hockey is often on the band’s mind, had nothing to do with the game. But the sentiment could equally have applied to the team in town to face the LA Kings Saturday night.

The Predators came in for a back-to-back game after having played in Anaheim the night before. They were 2-3-0 in the previous five games, though those two wins had been in their prior two contests. The Kings were coming off a fourth straight win and still playing Erik Ersberg in between the pipes.

So you could read that Hip line as applying to this game to mean that you don’t often get a tired team as your opposition, though you might wish you could. Nashville was on the road playing its third game in five days, with both of the previous two having gone past 60 minutes.

Or, you could read it as saying that you’d better take the chance to knock off a team just ahead of you in the standings when you can (the Kings came in with 16 points, the Predators 17).

Kings fans may have cared, or maybe not. The town was burning, so many of them probably had bigger things to worry about. (For more on what the team is doing for those who were unable to make the game, please see the notes below.)

Or they may have been like most watchers of the game, who have a shorthand that they use to describe teams they’re not completely familiar with. Take for instance Nashville. While Preds diehards likely know a lot about each of their guys, out of town fans, like, say, those in LA, likely have a quick list of “truths” about the team that come to mind.

To wit: This is the team that should be in Hamilton, Ontario, except the league is too shortsighted to move them up there. They have the first Inook player in the history of the game, and he’s a bit of a wildcard on the ice. And their coach looks like he forgot to take the hanger out of his jacket.

OK, that third thing, that’s just wrong. The first one is probably a matter of point of view, and those who live and work in Tennessee and have adopted the game would have something to say about the easy assumption that the team ought to pack up and move north.

And about the middle thing, well, I can tell you from talking to him that Jordin Tootoo is a bigger presence in the league that just as an important “first.” He’s a guy with a heart and a consciousness about his place in hockey, and a deep sense of commitment to his community, which comes through in what he says as he describes his journey to the league. But more on that another time. And, if you’ve not been paying attention, he’s starting to mature as a player, with his contribution now being more than just as an energy guy.

But enough background and on to the puck drop. The game started with a hooking penalty against the Kings’ Stoll which still failed to stop a semi-breakaway that Ersberg had to make a good save on. Talk about getting in the game fast—this was definitely NOT going to be like the game against the Panthers a week or so ago, when the Swede had to wait an eternity to handle the puck.

The Kings killed the penalty, and then went on the offensive. They didn’t exactly pour on the shots, but they steadily pounded away at starter Dan Ellis, forcing him to make several good saves. Especially on their only power play of the period, which came at 13:16.

And Mr. Tootoo? He got about four and a half minutes in the period, and distinguished himself early by making a good clean hit on Preissing behind the Kings net to dislodge the puck. Then later, he flew in on the right wing, deep and wide, and took a wrist shot that probably surprised Ersberg and might have gone in had he not been hugged tight to his left post.

The first ended with no score on either side and a shot differential of 12-5 for the Kings.

The second saw LA pour on the shots some more, while even when Nashville had a power play, they got none. At mid-period, the tally was home twenty, visitors eight. Neither side had scored. But Tootoo had again made an interesting play, taking the puck down the right wing and moving toward the center before being sandwiched, then spinning out of that and attempting a shot. When it came back to him, he made a pass to a teammate in the high slot, and only Matt Greene’s defensive play kept Nashville from a good scoring chance.

The scoring drought finally ended just past midway when goalie Ellis sent an outlet pass all the way to the LA blueline, where Erat got it and passed into the circle for Dumont. He saucered it over to Jason Arnott, who tapped it past Ersberg’s outstretched leg. It was a perfect play on Nashville’s part, and one that could have been thwarted at any point on the Kings’ part, but wasn’t.

But the home team got one back when Patrick O’Sullivan crashed behind the Preds’ net and freed up a puck. He sent it out to Peter Harrold, who relayed it to the point, where Quincey took a shot which was deflected on the way to the net by Michal Handzus for his fourth goal of the year.

The shots at the time were exactly double in favor of the Kings, 26-13.

Keeping tabs on Tootoo, he had played to this point 11:11, fitting for someone whose name and number are 22 and Tootoo, and recorded three shots with one blocked as well as a faceoff win in his only time in the circle.

The period stayed tied 1-1, with the shot advantage still heartily with the Kings, 27-14, and the Kings on the power play.

That man advantage carried over to the third period but produced no result. Meanwhile, the toes of Erik Ersberg kept the Preds from scoring another one. First it was a cross-ice pass to Erat. He got away a shot toward an open right side, and it was only Ersberg’s pushing over and keeping his paddle down that kept the puck out of the net. A few minutes later, a pass to Ryan Jones on the doorstep should have gone in the left side of the net, but Ersberg’s right toe kept that from happening.

Meanwhile, the Kings were up in shots at 32-19.

And Mr. Tootoo? He half-missed a one-timer slapshot mid-period, but then on the same shift, moved in on the wing all the way from his own end and fired off a low slapshot that Ersberg had to be quick to trap.

Unfortunately for the home squad, though, the visitors scored while the Kings were shorthanded with about two and a half to go. It came off a scrambling play where a couple of Kings players saw the puck get by them and out front, where JP Dumont scored his fourth goal of the year. It was Nashville’s 21st shot, and the Kings were up in that category by a dozen and ended with 34 to Nashville’s 22.

The last was actually a puck that went into the Kings’ empty net when Dustin Brown sent a pass back to his defense in the Preds’ zone and saw it skip all the way down and off the left post into the net. It wasn’t a shot, then, but had to be credited as such, and the goal went to the last Nashville guy to touch the puck, Weber.

So it was Predators 3, Kings 1, and the latter were probably thinking that it’s a good thing it can’t be Nashville every night.

Oh, and Tootoo? Sixteen minutes and a half, four shots, and the aforementioned one hit and one faceoff win. Not a bad night to up your average icetime by five minutes and record nearly twenty percent of your team’s shots.

Kings notes

Fans who couldn’t make the game due to the fires in Los Angeles need to know that the team will exchange their tickets for similar ones for one of these three games: December 6, 13, or 29 (subject to availability).

The Kings scratched Derek Armstrong, John Zeiler, and Brad Richardson, repeating a pattern which has held form except for the game against Dallas at home Tuesday, when Oscar Moller reported in with the flu and Armstrong suited up.

The Kings’ annual food drive continues November 20 and 22. Fans may donate nonperishable food items or money at the entrances to Staples Center. Proceeds benefit the LA Regional Food Bank as well as the Salvation Army’s Operation Feed Our Families.

The Kings make the quick turnaround to go to Anaheim Sunday for 5pm. The coach said after the game that he’ll have to check out the injury report to see whether any lineup adjustments will be made, but it didn’t sound like he was considering shaking things up.

Ersberg played well. Fans wondering why the trainer came out to check on him in the third period will be glad to know that, in his own words, “The puck hit me on the knee, but I didn’t call the trainer out there. I just looked up and he was there. There’s nothing wrong with my groin [muscles] or anything.”