"We kind of hung on," Coyotes Head Coach Rick Tocchet said. "You've got to give some guys some credit. I still think it's a lesson to learn that you can't back off. You can't win in this league consistently if you're backing off, and I thought the third, we're kind of backing up in the neutral zone and I'm not a fan of that. So we've got to make sure that we meet pressure with pressure. But overall, hey, listen, that team's built to win a Stanley Cup and we beat them 2-1. It was a little ugly."
Nashville's Nick Bonino spoiled Kuemper's bid for a shutout by scoring a goal off the right post with 7:51 left in the third period. Other than that, it was a night to remember for Kuemper, whom Tocchet yanked from his previous outing vs. Detroit on Tuesday after he allowed five goals on just 17 shots.
"I was ready to go from the start," said Kuemper, who has been filling in for injured starter Antti Raanta for the past two weeks. "I wasn't thinking about the last game ... Sometimes it's nice seeing a lot (of shots). It's easy to just get in a rhythm. They had a lot of shots early and things were going well. I felt good. The guys were doing a great job in front of me."