Mullett Arena was buzzing on Thursday night as the Arizona Coyotes (30-37-5) aimed to play the spoiler and halt the Nashville Predators’ (43-25-4) 18-game point streak.
The Predators have been among the league’s hottest teams since the All-Star break, not having lost in regulation since Feb. 15.
Even with a worse record, Arizona has had Nashville’s number this year, coming into Thursday’s contest leading the season series 2-1.
No. 7 in the Western Conference, the Coyotes were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention on Tuesday.
Even so, they seemed determined to keep fighting and find a silver lining amidst a challenging season.
The silver lining seems to lie in the young core of players that the Coyotes have been cultivating.
Logan Cooley, who had his first NHL hat trick in Thursday’s game, along with Dylan Guenther and Josh Doan, son of Coyotes legend Shane Doan, who scored two goals in his first NHL game on Tuesday and assisted on two goals Thursday, show that Arizona has a core to build around for the coming years.
The evening got off to a shaky start for Arizona fans when former Coyote Jason Zucker took only five minutes to score two goals on his first two shots.
But, before the first intermission, Jack McBain and Logan Cooley evened the game up, both beating Nashville goaltender Jussi Saros through his 5-hole.
A fight by NHL penalty minutes leader Liam O’Brien got the fans on their feet and absolutely tilted the ice in favor of Arizona.
The shift in momentum led to back-to-back goals exactly one minute apart, from Coyotes’ scoring leader Clayton Keller, who notched his eighth goal in the past nine games and Cooley with his second of the night.
Nashville responded as the silky Swede, Gustav Nyquist, nipped one in the back of the net for the Predators.
Nashville’s captain Roman Jossi, playing in his 900th NHL game, had his second assist of the night on the Nyquist goal.
The wild second frame ended with two more Coyotes goals from Bjugstad and Schmaltz, both assisted by Keller, giving him a four-point period.
Nashville coach Andrew Brunette put in backup goalie Kevin Lankinen to start the third period following a poor performance from Saros.
Even though Lankinen stopped all 11 shots against him, Arizona scored two empty-net goals, including Cooley’s third goal of the game, giving him his first ever hat trick in his rookie season.
Keller talked about his four-point night after the game.
“I think we did a lot of good things, we were moving our feet and our line has some chemistry right now. We’re reading off each other well and supporting…its good to have those two ( Bjugstad and Schmaltz),” Keller said.
Cooley commented on the team’s mindset coming into Thursday’s game, aware of Nashville’s impressive point streak.
“It’s always fun playing against the best guys in the league and the best teams bring out the best in all of us in here…you get up for those ones a little more,” Cooley said.
Arizona aims to secure their first three-game winning streak since December when they continue their current home stand against the New York Rangers, the first team in the league to clinch a playoff spot, at Mullett Arena on Saturday.
