Intangibles are great - when a team has them.

The Coyotes may have found a few Wednesday night.

Game photos

Powered by Ed Jovanovski's first career hat trick, they defeated Nashville 4-3 in front of 6,761 at Jobing.com Arena.

It was the first three-goal game by a defenseman in franchise history, and it led to a victory a desperate team needed. They were able to overcome mistakes, making it all the more satisfying.

Coach Dave Tippett encapsulized the advice he gives to Jovanovski: "Shoot hard, Jovo, and hope for the best."

Jovanovski's third goal came on a power play 5:38 into the third period; only 1:15 earlier, Lee Stempniak's 100th career goal, also on a power play, tied the score at 3-3.

Jovanovski opened the scoring with the game only 1:08 old and got another at the 1:09 mark of the second. He also had a strong defensive game and was solid on the penalty-kill. His first goal was an omen of things to come: the puck skittered toward him after Radim Vrbata whiffed on a shot, and he blasted it past goaltender Pekka Rinne.

"It was nice to contribute offensively, and it was nice to get the win," he said. "It was a game where we started off well and found a way to be chasing the game a little bit, but to get back to recapture that lead, stay composed and find a way to do it heading into the third period ...

"The power play being a sore spot, having that opportunity to get two power play goals was key for us."

The Coyotes (4-4-3), trailing 3-2, came out fiercely in the third period, needing to establish dominance to get in the right frame of mind. They got a break when a shot by Steve Sullivan hit the cross bar and the post and stayed out of the net, and they took advantage of it.

Stempniak rifled the puck past Rinne, the assists coming from Wojtek Wolski and Oliver Ekman-Larsson; then a superb pass by Ray Whitney set up Jovanovski's hat trick.

"That was a heckuva an effort on his (Jovanovski's) part, that's for sure," Tippett said. "He opportunistic in getting the goals, but he played a solid game for us , too.

" I thought him and (Sami) Lepisto were a good (defensive pair) for us out there. It's good to see him get rewarded for that work. "

Coyotes goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov, who had a few shaky incidents, seemed to get re-energized in the third period, and that also played a key role. He had 28 saves, four more than Rinne.

The Predators came back strong in the first to grab a 2-1 lead on goals by Francis Bouillon and Sergei Kostitsyn. After Jovanovski tied it, Patric Hornqvist's power-play goal with 7:56 left in the second swung the momentum back to Nashville.

"So far, we're scratching and clawing and looking for points here, and tonight we felt like we had close to what we hope our lineup's gonna look like," Tippett said. "So to some rhythm in our game and find a way to get some points is very important for us right now."

View from the press box

The season is young, but how the Coyotes rebounded to defeat Nashville on Wednesday night is a very positive sign. They lost an early lead, trailed after two periods, and then came out strong for the third. The victory could signal the turnaround in mind-set and provide momentum entering a stretch of tough games.

Report

Key player

Coyotes D Ed Jovanovski, first career NHL hat trick.

Key moment

In the third period, the Coyotes scored on two power plays in a span of 1:15.

Key number

100 career goals by Coyotes RW Lee Stempniak.