The three-game sweep of the NHL starts in Glendale again where the Arizona Coyotes are starting to look for real.
On Saturday, Mikkel Boedker scored a hat trick as the Coyotes the visiting Ottawa Senators, 4-3.
“It doesn’t happen very often, obviously,” Boedker said. “It was one of those games where I had the puck a lot, had a lot of shots (eight) and was able to find holes again. If I could explain it, I would. It feels good definitely, but I shouldn’t get too used to that, I don’t think.”
Anders Lindback made 35 stops in the win.
“[Lindback] stood on his head in the first period and we had to come in the room, reset and realize if we didn’t play better we were going to get rolled over,” Boedker said. “He had a big game for us and we were able to get away with a win.”
Dustin Jeffrey also scored for Arizona.
“In all three games here, solid goaltending was a key factor and we hung around all three games and bent but didn’t break,” said Arizona coach Dave Tippett, who tied Pat Burns for 20th place on the NHL all-time coaching wins list with 501. “Three games in four nights is a tough challenge physically and mentally. It doesn’t happen often. I give our guys credit for finding ways to win.”
Craig Anderson had 15 saves in the loss.
“I thought we made it easy for them to score tonight, not taking from Arizona,” Ottawa coach Dave Cameron said. “I’m not saying that they weren’t deserving, but it was too easy.”
In Nashville, Sam Reinhart scored two goals and the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Predators, 4-1.
“I just tried to find the soft area,” Reinhart said. “I think it was [Sabres forward David Legwand] that kind of handcuffed the defenseman or forward down low and kind of put it behind him, and [Moulson] is great at finding those soft areas and was able to pick the puck up and find me in the high slot.”
Chad Johnson got the win for Buffalo on 28 saves.
“For us to score goals now and get rewarded for the hard work that we’ve been putting in in the last bunch of games here, it’s nice to see the guys have some smiles on their face and to know that we’re getting rewarded,” Johnson said. “Personally, I’m doing the same thing I have from the start. We’re getting the bounces now and we’re getting the puck in the net, so that’s going to lead to wins.”
The Sabres improved to 10-12-2 on the season.
“I said from the start, it was tough as a group I think,” Johnson said. “We were just battling to kind of get things over with in the sense of like the rust and gelling. I felt good at the start of the year. You don’t get the results sometimes that maybe you should, but now I think I’ve been getting the results that I think the team deserves and I think I deserve.”
The Preds fell to 1-4-1 in their last six games.
“I think we can play at a higher tempo,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. “I think that’s when we’re at our best. I think we had more push in that area tonight.”
In Pittsburgh, the visiting Edmonton Oilers managed a 3-2 win in the skills competition over their host Penguins
Anders Nilsson got the win on the strength of 39 saves.
“I felt pretty good. I felt like I saw the puck pretty well,” Nilsson said. “I tracked the puck and felt comfortable out there. So overall, I felt good and I think we played a pretty good team game. Pittsburgh’s a great team and it’s not an easy building to come in and play. So, I think we battled hard and battled hard throughout 60 minutes or 65 minutes.”
Jeff Zatkoff took the loss for the Pens making 34 and yielding two scores in the shootout.
“It feels good to win. The guys got a good reward,” Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. “I thought we had a good effort from a lot of players. It was open. I’m not sure if that favored us or them. Obviously, in the end, us. But probably a little too open, but yet I thought we buckled down when we needed to.”
Evgeni Malkin scored twice in regulation for the Pens.
“I thought through the last half of the first period, we really started to take over the game by playing down low, playing below the circles against them,” Penguins coach Mike Johnston said. “That’s how we just took advantage of them in the game. We just missed on our chances.”
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