Cooley gets 1st hat trick, Coyotes end Predators’ 18-game point streak

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Logan Cooley scored his first NHL hat trick, and Clayton Keller had a goal and three assists for the Arizona Coyotes, who ended the Nashville Predators’ 18-game point streak with an 8-4 win at Mullett Arena on Thursday.

The Predators (43-26-4) were 16-0-2 since a 9-2 loss to the Dallas Stars on Feb. 15. They were trying to become the 15th team in NHL history with point streak of at least 19 games.

“It’s always fun playing against the best guys in the League, the best teams. I think it brings out the best in us,” said Cooley, a 19-year-old rookie who was playing in his 73rd NHL game. “For me, personally, I like playing against the really good guys. You get up for those games a little more, and that one was a fun one.”

Nick Schmaltz had a goal and an assist, and Josh Doan had two assists to give him four points in his first two NHL games for the Coyotes (31-37-5), who have won five of their past seven (5-2-0). Connor Ingram made 33 saves.

Jason Zucker scored twice, and Roman Josi had three assists in his 900th NHL game for Nashville. Juuse Saros allowed six goals on 27 shots in two periods before being replaced by Kevin Lankinen, who made 11 saves in the third period.

The Predators hold the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, three points ahead of the Los Angeles Kings. They’re also four points behind the Winnipeg Jets for third place in the Central Division.

“There's going to be a night like this,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “Every team in the NHL is a good team and every night is hard. I thought we did enough good things to win the game, we just made some mistakes that really cost us and couldn’t overcome.”

Zucker gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 2:22 of the first period, scoring from the slot. Arizona traded Zucker to Nashville on March 8.

Zucker then extended it to 2-0 after scoring again at 5:11 on a wrist shot.

“We knew they were on a streak and playing really good hockey, and we took a deep breath and relaxed and found our game and kind of took off after that,” Cooley said.

Jack McBain cut it to 2-1 at 8:00, banking a shot off Saros’ left knee after Doan stole the puck in the corner.

Doan had two goals in his NHL debut against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, a 6-2 win.

“It probably came a little easy for us [early],” Josi said. “I thought we played well in the beginning, but we kind of got away from that a little bit and then just kind of gave them too much. They’re a skilled team and they made us pay for a couple of mistakes.”

Cooley tied it 2-2 at 17:00, scoring five-hole after driving down the left side ahead of Nashville defenseman Luke Schenn.

“We started to play our A game in the second,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. “[The Keller-Nick Bjugstad-Nick Schmaltz line] were playing against their top line and that goes under the radar a little bit. (Ryan) O’Reilly and (Filip) Forsberg and (Gustav) Nyquist are an elite line in the League.”

Keller, who tied his career high with four points, gave Arizona a 3-2 lead at 7:11 of the second period on the power play, finishing a give-and-go with Alex Kerfoot.

Cooley scored again one minute later to extend it to 4-2.

“That was the pace I’ve got to play with, and I’m getting better at it,” said Keller, who became the fourth player in Coyotes history to have a four-point period. “That was a high-intensity game, everybody was into it.”

Nyquist’s power-play goal from the left circle cut it to 4-3 at 11:08.

Bjugstad made it 5-3 at 12:36 before Schmaltz pushed it to 6-3 at 16:05 on the rush for Arizona’s fourth goal of the period.

Matias Maccelli’s empty-net goal at 13:57 of the third extended it to 7-3.

Forsberg scored a power-play goal at 16:40 on a backhand from the left circle to make it 7-4. He extended his goal streak to seven games (eight goals).

Cooley completed his first career hat trick with an empty-net goal at 18:28 for the 8-4 final.

“That was a special moment,” Cooley said.

NOTES: Schmaltz (four assists in the third period on March 5, 2022), Rostislav Klesla (four assists in the first period on March 28, 2013) and Shane Doan (one goal, three assists in the second period on March 8, 2003) are the other three players in Coyotes history to have a four-point period. … Predators defenseman Spencer Stastney returned after missing five games with an upper-body injury. … Nashville forward Anthony Beauvillier was a healthy scratch after not scoring a goal in his first eight games with the Predators. He was acquired March 7 in a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks. Cody Glass took his place in the lineup.