A good start and a valiant finish weren’t enough to get the Preds a much-needed win against a Central Division rival today.
Nashville started off with a couple of early looks, and then Kiefer Sherwood drew a penalty just over a minute into the game. With Travis Dermott in the box for hooking, the Preds got some fantastic chances, but were unable to capitalize on any of them. Play crawled along for the rest of the first half of the period, with the teams trading intermittent looks, until Clayton Keller scored at 9:52 to put the Coyotes on the board.
Cole Smith clipped him in the jaw with his stick on the play, drawing blood; because Keller scored, only a two-minute minor was assessed (much as if the Coyotes had scored on a delayed penalty). The Preds killed the second off and immediately drew a penalty of their own when Matias Maccelli tripped Roman Josi. Sadly the Preds weren’t able to get much done on this power play, though they did a good job maintaining possession as the period continued.
It seemed like the Preds were getting off to a great start to the second, but suddenly the Coyotes counterattacked. Maccelli intercepted a failed clearing attempt, which bounced off a stanchion, and set Keller up to make it it 2-0 at 1:20.
Tommy Novak got taken down on an open-ice hit by Matt Dumba just before Luke Evangelista drew a tripping penalty. Cole Smith and Luke Schenn took exception to Dumba’s hit, but managed to escape penalties of their own, and Roman Josi scored on a shot that bounced off the post, off Connor Ingram, and in. He passed Shea Weber for franchise career goals by a defender with that play, which made the goal itself–a slap shot from the left point–oddly fitting.
The Coyotes pushed back, and kept pushing. Juuse Saros lost his stick in a scramble while the Preds were hemmed in; while Ryan McDonagh was able to get a clear, and the Preds were able to manage a change, they didn’t manage to reset properly, and Michael Carcone scored to make it 3-1 halfway through the period.
Nashville found their feet again after that. They got some luck when Dylan Guenther, breaking in alone after a turnover, hit the post instead of the back of the net, and some more luck when Evangelista drew another penalty. Gustav Nyquist almost managed to score early, but didn’t, and the Coyotes were able to kill the rest of the penalty off.
Novak drew a tripping penalty from Carcone with just over a minute left in the period, putting the Coyotes shorthanded again, but they were again able to kill it off, probably helped by the intermission breaking up the Preds’ attempts to gain momentum. Tyson Barrie then took a penalty of his own, tripping Jack McBain. The Coyotes hit a couple of posts during their power play–including Guenther’s second of the night–but the Preds were able to kill it off.
The Preds got another break when the Coyotes were whistled for too many men close to halfway through the third. Yet again Arizona was able to kill it off, including a great save on a great play that Denis Gurianov and Evangelista attempted. The Preds weren’t able to get much together as the period wound down, and Saros had to make several more saves on Keller before he was pulled for the extra skater.
Carcone missed the empty net, giving the Preds a little more hope, but the Coyotes’ defense was sharp, protecting Ingram and the high-danger areas as Nashville struggled to regroup and attack. Novak was able to cut the deficit to one after a quick strategy session, finally getting rewarded for all the bumps he’d taken over the course of the last couple of games, but with only 1:14 left the Preds weren’t able to find the equalizer in time.