Preds' power play wakes up vs. Arizona


Reuters | Updated: 06-02-2019 11:22 IST | Created: 06-02-2019 11:22 IST
Preds' power play wakes up vs. Arizona

Captain Roman Josi collected a goal and two assists as the host Nashville Predators skated to a 5-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday. Fellow defenseman Ryan Ellis and forward Calle Jarnkrok each scored and set up a goal, and Filip Forsberg ended Nashville's pronounced power-play drought to highlight his team's three-goal second period. Craig Smith also tallied, and Pekka Rinne finished with 24 saves for the Predators, who snapped a three-game home losing skid and averted a season sweep by Arizona.

Vinnie Hinostroza scored his fifth goal in six contests, and Derek Stepan also tallied for the Coyotes, who have dropped four in a row to conclude their six-game road trip with a 2-3-1 mark. Calvin Pickard turned aside 42 shots in the loss. Entering the game mired in an 0-for-31 drought on the power play, Nashville was unsuccessful on its first two attempts before Forsberg beat Pickard on a shot from the outer edge of the right faceoff circle. Forsberg's 19th goal of the season gave the Predators a 2-1 lead at 7:45 of the second period.

Ellis doubled the advantage less than six minutes later, cleaning up a loose puck from the doorstep before absorbing a crosscheck from defenseman Alex Goligoski. Stepan scored on a wraparound to trim the Predators' lead to 3-2 at 4:19 of the third period, but Rinne got his revenge by stopping him from point-blank range with less than seven minutes to play. The sequence proved pivotal as Nashville regained its two-goal advantage shortly thereafter, with Colton Sissons one-touching Josi's feed to Jarnkrok at the doorstep.

Hinostroza accepted a slick backhanded pass from Goligoski and wristed a shot from the slot past Rinne to open the scoring with 3:01 left in the first period. Nashville forged a 1-1 tie just 2:58 into the second period as defenseman Mattias Ekholm's one-timer from the right point produced a juicy rebound for Smith, who chipped the puck home from the right doorstep. The goal was Smith's 15th of the season and his first since he tallied twice in a 4-1 win over Montreal on Jan. 5.

--Field Level Media

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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