Nashville Predators vs. Arizona Coyotes Preview: Coyote Ugly

The Nashville Predators dropped Tuesday’s contest against the Colorado Avalanche and continue their homestand tonight.

Here’s the recap from the Nashville-Arizona game on November 15th.

Nashville Predators

Kevin Fiala found his way onto the scoresheet with his third of the season on Tuesday. He needs to continue to put the puck into the net to convince many of us that he’s the Top-6 forward we drafted.

Pekka Rinne prevented a complete blowout by the MacKinnon-Landeskog-Rantanen line on Tuesday. He stopped several point-blank chances by these dangerous guys. Will Rinne be in net tonight or will Juuse Saros get another chance? Saros has looked a bit less confident in Rinne’s return, but a strong game by his team tonight will certainly boost the young goalie’s season record.

Arizona Coyotes

Arizona is 10-11-2 on the season. Nashville last saw the Coyotes a few weeks back in Arizona.

You’ll remember that Michael Grabner scored a shorthanded goal on Rinne a few weeks ago. Arizona goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 44 saves on 45 Nashville shots (a career high). The tall netminder was perfectly positioned to stop nearly all the things.

Clayton Keller leads the Coyotes in points with 14 (6 goals, 8 assists). Captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson has 12 points on the season (2 goals, 10 assists). Michael Grabner has 11 points (6 goals, 5 assists). 4 of Grabner’s 6 goals are shorthanded goals.

The Coyotes and Chicago Blackhawks were involved in a trade last weekend that sent Dylan Strome and Brendan Perlini to Chicago in exchange for Nick Schmaltz. Schmaltz had quickly fallen out of favor in the Windy City. Strome got his first goal as a Blackhawk on Tuesday.

Goaltender Antti Raanta has played in 12 games with a .906 Sv%. Kuemper has started 11 contests and has posted a .914 Sv%.

Memories and Feelings

-I’m not sure about you, but I felt like someone had put coal in my Christmas stocking when Michael Grabner scored that shorthanded goal on Rinne in the desert a few weeks ago.

-Further, I need proof that this team can score when they should. Put pucks into the net instead of into the goaltender’s chest.

Reasons to Watch

-Response. How will Nashville respond to Tuesday’s loss? Pekka Rinne cannot keep bailing out this team while they fail to score goals.

-Take a break from studying for finals and writing term papers to catch your favorite boys in gold!

Coyotes Social Media

-@ArizonaCoyotes

-@Five4Howling : The Coyotes’ SB Nation Affiliate is Five For Howling.

Tonight’s Theme Song

“All I Want for Christmas Is You (Extra Festive)” by Mariah Carey. Have fun getting this EXTRA FESTIVE version out of your head!

Tonight’s Drink of Choice

Heaven’s Door Tennessee Bourbon on the rocks.

How to Watch

Tonight’s game will be on Fox Sports-TN and 102.5 The Game will have the radio call. Puck drop will be a bit after 7:00 Central.