Game Recap
The Arizona Coyotes returned home to the Mullett Arena and beat the Nashville Predators 3-2. It wasn’t a perfect win, but the Coyotes didn’t trail for a single second for the game and walked away with two points from a division rival.
It was surprising that the Coyotes won the game, considering they started another match on the wrong foot. Only 66 seconds in, the Nashville Predators were awarded their first power play when Travis Dermott sat for hooking, and it would not be the last time the Yotes were short-handed. Arizona managed to kill that penalty, but the Predators had all of the momentum to start the match.
The Coyotes finally started to gain momentum midway through the period, starting with Clayton Keller’s 18th of the season from Dylan Guenther and Sean Durzi.
It took a great effort from Durzi in the corner and a good pass from Guenther to complete the goal, along with Keller finding the perfect spot on the ice. With the goal, Keller also drew a penalty as he took a high stick that cut the underside of his face. It was the Coyotes’ first power play, and unfortunately, the Desert Dogs couldn’t convert.
Despite taking another penalty immediately after their power play expired, the Coyotes finished the period with a 1-0 lead. It was a good start, but it would have been better if the Coyotes had stayed out of the box.
Arizona didn’t take long to double their lead in the second, with Keller getting his second of the night from Matias Maccelli.
Maccelli found a wide-open Keller, who fired a puck past a stretching Juuse Saros, making it 2-0.
But, just like the first period, this was followed up with another penalty a few minutes later. And while the Coyotes killed off the Predator’s first two power plays, they couldn’t stop Roman Josi from scoring his 167th career goal, the most by a Nashville defenseman.
Keller scored the first two Coyotes’ goals, but they needed someone else to step up and light the lamp. And that player was Michael Carcone, who scored his 15th of the season from Jack McBain and Sean Durzi.
McBain passed the puck across the ice, allowing Carcone to register his first goal in over a month. The Coyotes were in a solid position, which they followed up with two more penalties in the later half of the second period.
Arizona got their second and final power play early in the final frame, but again, they failed to add to their lead. And then, three and a half minutes after that power play expired, the Yotes took their final penalty of the game, this time for too many men on the ice.
The Predators would pull Saros with over three minutes left, and the Coyotes had plenty of chances to hit the empty net. They didn’t, but Tommy Novak did manage to score a late one, cutting the Coyotes’ lead in half.
Thankfully, Connor Ingram stood tall in the game’s final minutes and kept the Predators from tying up. The Predators were outshooting the Desert Dogs all game, including 11 shots with the man advantage.
It was a good win by the Coyotes, but it saw them take far too many penalties. Even though Nashville only scored on one of the five, the Yotes took penalties when they should have been building momentum, and they very easily could have changed the outcome of the game.
But the Coyotes won despite being without Nick Schmaltz for the second straight game. With the Coyotes’ short-handed forward, Clayton Keller played 23 minutes and 43 seconds, the most of any skater for the Coyotes.
Lines
Three Stars
- Clayton Keller – 2 goals
- Roman Josi – Goal and an assist
- Connor Ingram – 30 saves on 32 shots
Next Game
The Coyotes will next play the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday at home.