Kyle Turris spent Thursday night in the press box as the Nashville Predators posted a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings.

The struggling centre was made a healthy scratch by head coach Peter Laviolette after posting just one goal and four points since returning from a lower-body injury on Feb. 7.

"I’m going to leave it at this," Laviolette said post-game, per Adam Vingan of The Athletic. "I made a lineup decision tonight. There’s been conversations with Kyle. I’m going to keep those internal between Kyle and myself."

Turris has seven goals and 22 points with a minus-4 rating in 46 games with the Predators this season. He made an immediate impact for the club upon being acquired from the Ottawa Senators last season, posting 13 goals and 42 points with a plus-22 rating in 65 games.

“It has to be better,” Predators general manager David Poile told 102.5 ESPN Radio Nashville last week. “We need to get more of that secondary, or specifically, second-line scoring. Kyle has been a really good player and produced very well almost all of his career. When we got him from Ottawa, to me, he was one of the guys that got our year turned around in the right direction. Kevin Fiala and Craig Smith were his two linemates, and they were kind of floundering at the beginning of last season, and arguably, Kyle came in and was our best forward for a quarter of the season.

“But he’s had some injuries and other situations. Whether it’s linemates or whatever, we’ve just got to get him back. We know he’s a real, real good player, and he just has to find a more consistent level and be a little bit more dangerous on a game-by-game basis.”

Turris had just three assists in 13 playoff games last season and Poile is hoping the team can receive more production from the 29-year-old this spring.

“I’m sure he’s pressing a little bit, so we’ve got to put him in a position to be successful,” Poile added. “Maybe don’t show him some of the recent games, but maybe show him some of the games back when he first got to Nashville because he was a terrific player then, and we’ve just got to get him back to that level.”

Following Thursday's victory, the Predators sit second in the Central Division, one point back of the Winnipeg Jets, who have two games in hand.