Though the season may be drawing to a close on Broadway, they still found themselves in the middle of an important game. The Phoenix Coyotes are just outside of the last Wild Card spot and their play as of late has been helping them stay there. Tonight, they aimed to use their game in hand to draw even with the Dallas Stars, whom they need to beat in order to punch their ticket to the dance for the Stanley Cup.
The desert dogs dominated during the first period, but quickly trailed off after the first 20 minutes. Craig Smith and Patric Hornqvist both scored their 21st goals of the season, and Pekka Rinne picked up his second shutout of the season. Rinne is now holds the record for most wins (162) in Nashville’s franchise, beating out Tomas Vokoun for the honor.
Random Observations
- Speaking of milestones, our good friend Martin Erat played in his 800th game tonight. Fitting, as it was the first time since being traded last year that he played in Music City, after spending 11 years and 723 games with the Predators.
- Calle Jarnkrok pulled a pretty filthy move tonight that would have been on all the highlight shows if not for a great save by Thomas Greiss.
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It took eight minutes for the Preds to get their first shot on goal. I guess that’s what happens when one team is out of the postseason picture and the other is clawing for a spot.
- Of course, that was reversed in the second period when it took the Coyotes 16 (!) minutes to get their first shot. That’s not the way to get into the playoffs, guys.
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The reaction of the Coyotes players on the ice when Hornqvist scored said it all. I’m sure their fans were thinking the same exact thing. It’s got to be so frustrating to be so, so close to the postseason only to watch the team flounder at every turn.
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Carter Hutton really has grown on me as a player this season, but man can the dude talk about hockey. I always look forward to his segments on the bench and he definitely should look into being an analyst whenever he decides to hang up his pads.
- Um, so… you’re welcome Dallas, I guess.
Boxscore – Game Summary – Event Summary – Fancy Stats
Roll the video highlights…