The LA Kings picked up a point for the fourth straight game but came up short in Nashville, dropping a 5-4 decision in a shootout against the Predators on Saturday evening at Bridgestone Arena.

Just shy of eight minutes into the game, the Kings opened the scoring as forward Adrian Kempe found the back of the net for the third consecutive game. After a shot on goal from forward Anze Kopitar broke the stick of Nashville netminder Juuse Saros, the Kings continued to pressure in the offensive zone before defenseman Brandt Clarke fed Kempe in the slot and he buried high glove side for his fifth goal of the season and the early lead.

It took Nashville only 93 seconds to answer, however, as forward Ryan O’Reilly tied the game from in tight. A shot from Predators defenseman Spencer Stastney was stopped by Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper, but the puck trickled through Kuemper’s pads and into the crease. O’Reilly won the net-front battle and got a stick on the rebound, pushing it over the line and in for his fourth goal of the season and a 1-1 score.

Inside the opening minute of the second period, the Predators took their first lead of the evening. After a breakdown in neutral-zone coverage, Nashville found the space for a 2-on-0 break into the offensive zone. Skating down the right side of the slot, forward Matthew Wood fed forward Filip Forsberg with a cross-ice pass, which Forsberg one-timed past Kuemper and in for a 2-1 lead.

It took the Kings only 59 seconds to respond as the new-look fourth line scored in their first game together. After taking a pass from forward Alex Turcotte, forward Joel Armia rounded the net and looked to center the puck into the slot. Armia’s pass deflected off a Nashville skate, through the legs of Saros and in for his first goal as a member of the Kings organization and a 2-2 score.

The fourth line struck again just shy of four minutes later, as forward Corey Perry buried his second goal in as many games. Attacking off the rush, Armia danced his way into the slot and fed Perry at the back post, where he put home his 450th career regular-season goal in the NHL for a 3-2 lead. Perry is one of just seven active NHL players with 450 goals, the final two of which have come with the Kings.

The back-and-forth scoring continued as Nashville forward Cole Smith tied the game at 3-3 with a solo effort. Smith worked his way through the neutral zone with speed and attacked the Kings off the rush, through the middle of the ice. Smith found his way to the net between three Kings defenders and his shot deflected off an LA stick and in for his third goal of the season and another tie score.

With the halfway mark of the third period approaching, the Kings pulled back in front after a period of sustained offensive-zone pressure. Forward Trevor Moore fed the puck to Clarke at the point with a hard pass, tape-to-tape. Clarke used his instincts to activate and his shot on goal generated a big rebound in front, with Moore getting to the right area to put it home for the go-ahead goal, his third of the season in total.

O’Reilly made it a multi-goal game with just over five minutes to play in regulation, tying the game at four. Forsberg won a puck battle below the goal line in the offensive zone and after he worked the puck into the low slot, O’Reilly whacked at it, sending the shot past Kuemper on the glove hand to force the game into overtime, the sixth time in nine games the Kings have gone beyond the scheduled 60 minutes.

The Kings had two power-play chances late and came up empty on both, but got a 4-on-3 penalty kill in overtime to force the game into a shootout. Both teams scored three goals in the first eight rounds before forward Ozzy Wiesblatt found the winner in Round 9.

Hear from Moore, Clarke and Head Coach Jim Hiller following tonight’s game on LAKingsInsider.com.