At some point, the Arizona Coyotes will find a way to hold a lead or even find a way to grab two points in overtime or the skills competition.
On Thursday night, the Coyotes yielded a late goal to Ryan Ellis that forced extra time and then lost in the shootout, 3-2, to the Nashville Predators.
Pekka Rinne made 27 saves in 3-2 SO win over Arizona Thursday – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
“I think when we simplify and throw pucks at the net, the hockey gods are going to reward us eventually with a bounce here and there,” Ellis said. “I think we had 39 shots or something like that, which is a good sign for our team, especially at home.”
The Bridgestone Arena is a house of horrors for visitors as the Preds improved to 15-4-2 with the win; they also moved into first place with the win in the Central Division.
The loss was the Coyotes’ fourth straight and they dropped to 1028-9.
“I thought the first five, 10 minutes we were fine,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. “I thought we did all right, and then they made a push and I was a little nervous with our reaction. And then in the second and the third, I liked the way that we reacted.”
Pekka Rinne made 27 saves to get the win.
Brendan Perlini and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored for the Coyotes.
“I thought we had a couple of good chances, especially in the first,” Arizona’s ROman Josi said. “In the second, we didn’t play as well. We just didn’t get as many chances or [offensive] zone time. The third was kind of back and forth. Good character win. We found a way, and that’s all that matters.”
Scott Hartnell also scored in regulation for Nashville.
[WATCH:Â All Coyotes vs. Predators highlights]
Antti Raanta made 37 saves in taking the loss.
“We killed off three penalties. That’s a good power play over there. They’ve got some shooters. That’s a good hockey club. Like I said before the game, that’s a Stanley Cup contender. They have a good chance to win the Stanley Cup so we did a nice job against them,” Tocchet said after the game.
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