Nashville Predators rally in third period, topple Arizona Coyotes

Normally, there’d be no shame in the Coyotes taking a one-goal loss to the best team in hockey. But the way the team played for most of Thursday’s 3-2 defeat to the red-hot Nashville Predators, there was a strong sense of disappointment in the Coyotes locker room.

The Coyotes held a 2-1 advantage heading into the third period, but crumbled under a pair of defensive breakdowns as the Predators snapped Arizona’s four-game win streak at Gila River Arena on Thursday.

“I don’t know if it got away,” Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet said. “A couple (guys) mismanaged the puck. We didn’t give them much tonight. That’s a championship team there. They’re locked and loaded. We let them hang around a little bit and they scored some goals.”

The Coyotes drew first blood when center Christian Dvorak potted his own rebound past Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne at 5:09 of the second period.

Dvorak came into the game having notched four goals and five points in his last seven games.

“He’s going to those areas,” Tocchet said. “In the last two months, he’s been working on that stuff and it’s paying off. If you look at that goal, it’s on his stick and then it’s off his stick. Two, three months ago he might have massaged it and held it too long.”

“This is a game when you get it, you’ve got to get it off. All the great goal scorers can get that puck off quick, and he’s starting to realize (that).

However, just 40 seconds later, Predators forward Ryan Ellis tied the game as Nashville took advantage of an unfortunate turnover committed by Arizona.

The game remained tied 1-1 until Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored on the power play at 16:28 of the second period. Assisted by rookie Clayton Keller, it was the defenseman’s 99th career goal.

The goal gave Ekman-Larsson a point in six of his last eight games, and Keller his 32nd assist on the season. Keller is now tied with Peter Mueller for the most assists in a single season by a Coyotes rookie.

RELATED: Coyotes rookie Clayton Keller is approaching rarefied air

But Nashville tied the game just 22 seconds into the third period, as poor defensive coverage resulted in a goal scored by former Coyotes center Kyle Turris.

At 4:31 of the third period, Turris won a faceoff and Predators forward Kevin Fiala one-timed the puck past Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper to give Nashville a 3-2 advantage.

Turris finished with three points (one goal, two assists) in the game.

Coyotes center Brad Richardson, who lost the face-off on the Fiala goal, accepted responsibility for the team’s third-period breakdowns. Richardson’s line was on the ice for both goals.

“It’s frustrating because we probably should have won that game,” Richardson said. “I’ll take credit for that one. Blown face-off there and they score. Shouldn’t have happened.

“Our line was out for both (Predators goals in the third period). I didn’t think we had a good night. I’ll take that one.”

The Coyotes had three power plays in which they attempted to tie the game, but the man-advantage unit could not solve Rinne (32 saves).

Still, Tocchet said he liked the pressure from his team late in the game.

“We had some good possession time down there,” Tocchet said. “We had some good movement. Missed the net a couple times and I would have liked to see a little more traffic in front of the goalie. But other than that I liked the possession time and I thought we made some plays and did a nice job.”

The Coyotes are now 5-2-1 in March and 4-1-0 in their last four home games. Entering play Thursday, only the Predators (28 points) had registered more points than the Coyotes (24) among Western Conference teams since Feb. 8.

Given their winning ways and how they played a Predators team that tied a franchise record with a 13-game road point streak on Thursday, the loss was more painful.

“I think guys have a sour taste in their mouths,” Tocchet said. “I think they believe they should have won the game tonight, and I like that feeling. I know losing sucks, but I just think that there were a couple plays at the blue line where we mismanaged the puck and it ended up in the back of our net.”

Richardson agreed that the Coyotes played exceptionally well on Thursday, but that the onus fell on him and his unit to be better in crunch time.

“I thought we played well and (Kuemper) made some big saves,” Richardson said. “I thought we hung in there and we kind of blew it in the third. The guys played well and, like I said, our line cost us the game.”

Den’s digest

The score: Predators 3, Coyotes 2.

The streak: L1.

The record: 23-36-11, 8th in Pacific.

The 82-game pace: 27-42-13.

The player: Kyle Turris.

The moment: Kevin Fiala’s one-timer goal at 4:31 of the third period that came via the face-off win by Turris.

The number: 99 — With a goal on Thursday, Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson now has 99 career NHL goals.

The quote: “Overall, I liked our effort and I liked the way we played against them. Would I have liked to see a couple guys cash in on their chances? Yeah. Would I have liked to see better defensive-zone decisions? Yeah. But it’s a game of mistakes, right? We pushed them and that's why they’re a great team. They win those type of games.” — Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet on the team’s effort on Thursday.

View from the press box: Given that the Coyotes arguably outplayed the Predators for 40 minutes, the players are right to be upset that this one got away. But they should still take pride in how they played on Thursday. That’s the best team in hockey out there.

Song of the night: “The Same Graceful Wind” by Vanna.