Roman Josi in action [Photo courtesy of nhl.com]
The result ends a three-game home losing streak for the Preds, and, perhaps more importantly, Forsberg’s tally snapped an 0-for-34 skid with the man advantage.
Nashville registered 47 shots on goal – just two off of their season high – and got five of them to count in an overall satisfying effort to conclude the season series with the Coyotes.
“It was a great game; they had their pushes and they worked hard, but Pekka Rinne made some great saves, and when we needed goals, we got them,” Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis said. “Tonight was a good team effort.”
“I don’t think the first period was bad, but I thought we were capable of playing better,” Preds Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. “The second period, I thought we really cranked it up. We caught a team that played last night too, so I think that maybe worked to our advantage as well, but to push forward from going down 1-0, really important second period. I thought the guys played really well.”
Arizona had a 1-0 lead after the first 20 minutes thanks to a goal from Vinnie Hinostroza, but the Preds took over in the middle frame.
First, it was Craig Smith who poked home a loose puck at the side of the net for his 15th of the season, and then, the Predators went back on the power play. After a masterful keep-in at the point by Josi that kept the play alive, the puck eventually came to Forsberg who sniped home Nashville’s first goal on the man advantage in their past 35 tries for the first lead of the evening.
Less than six minutes later, it was defenseman Ryan Ellis who joined the rush and finished off the play right in front of the net to give his club a 3-1 advantage after two periods.
The Coyotes cut the lead to one early in the third, but that was as close as they came before Calle Jarnkrok converted on an odd-man rush, and Josi iced it with an empty-net strike from his own end boards to give the Preds their 32nd victory of the season.
“We were down after the first, but we had some good chances, some good looks, and we kept pushing,” Josi said. “Especially in the second, we had a lot of chances and got rewarded with some goals.”
The homestand concludes on Thursday as the Preds will host the Stars for the second time this week in search of some revenge after suffering a defeat on Saturday night.
“Dallas is playing really well right now,” Josi said. “It was a tough game Saturday, and we lost the last two against them at home, so we definitely have some work to do. It’ll be another tough game. It was a physical match last time, and we expect the same this time.”
The 0-for is Over:
It was bound to break eventually, right?
The Predators spent the majority of Monday’s practice working on the man advantage with the hope that things would eventually turn.
On Tuesday, Filip Forsberg helped his club’s cause.
“Forsberg had a good shot and Viktor Arvidsson had a terrific screen,” Ellis said of the play. “All of the movement was great. We were getting good shots and chances, and we finally got one.”
With a perfectly placed shot from the circle, Nashville ended their power-play drought with their first conversion since Forsberg also got one back on Jan. 9 in Chicago.
“We had a lot of looks and a lot of opportunities, I thought that there could’ve been more than one,” Laviolette said of the power play. “Filip made a terrific shot coming in on his… We talked about before the game the special teams could factor into the game and I thought they did.”
It allowed the group to breathe a sigh of relief, and while one success may not solve all of the woes, it certainly won’t hinder the efforts to rectify the situation with the postseason on the horizon.
“We’re all kind of tired of talking about it; we’re working on it and it was great to get a goal,” Josi said. “We’re going to keep working it, and hopefully get better and better.”
Notes:
With two points on the night, Ryan Ellis is now just one point away from 200 in his NHL career.
Nashville concludes their three-game homestand on Thursday as they host the Dallas Stars for the second time in the stretch before beginning a home-and-home with St. Louis this weekend.
Pete Weber’s Postgame Report
