Preds Drop 4-2 Decision to Coyotes

The Nashville Predators outshot the Arizona Coyotes 31-19 but ultimately fell to their Central Division rivals by a score of 4-2 Monday at Bridgestone Arena.
The Preds, who have lost two of three since the All-Star break, are 0-1-1 against Arizona in 2022-23.
Roman Josi and Colton Sissons scored for Nashville. Kevin Lankinen made 15 saves in goal for the Predators, who moved to 25-20-6 on the season.

THE STORY

The Coyotes opened the scoring when Clayton Keller set up Nick Schmaltz for a wide-open net after a defensive zone turnover to put Arizona up 1-0 at 17:15 of the first period.
Josi tied it up on the power play, firing a one-timer into the back of the net to get the Predators on the board at 4:41 of the second period. The Preds then took their first lead of the game at 8:58, when Sissons went top shelf to make it 2-1.
Minutes later, the Coyotes netted a power-play goal of their own on their first shot of the second period. Lawson Crouse lasered a shot past Lankinen at 12:17 to tie the score at 2-2.
Arizona retook the lead with Crouse's second goal of the game, a wrist shot on a slick pass from Mattias Maccelli. Christian Fischer scored into the empty net with 53 seconds remaining in regulation for the 4-2 final.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Captain Hot Streak
Josi's second-period tally was Nashville's first power-play goal since Jan. 21 (Ryan Johansen vs. LA Kings). The Predators captain extended his team lead in points to 44 (13g-31a) and has 40 points (12g-28a) in his last 42 games. Josi has recorded at least one point in 15 of his last 18 contests, and he is currently on a season-high six-game point streak (1g-7a).

Fear The Herd
Nashville's 'Herd Line' of Sissons, Tanner Jeannot and Yakov Trenin, reunited for a second consecutive game, combined for Sissons' go-ahead goal in the second. It was Sissons' eighth goal of the season and his first since Jan. 19 at St. Louis.

P.K.'s Homecoming
The Predators honored former defenseman P.K. Subban on Monday with a pregame video tribute and ceremonial puck drop. Subban, who played three of his 13 seasons with the Preds, announced on Sept. 20, 2022, that he was retiring from the NHL.
The three-time NHL All-Star defenseman was a prominent figure both on and off the ice and an integral part of the Preds' 2017 Stanley Cup Final run, the 2018 Presidents' Trophy and back-to-back Central Division titles. He had 130 points (35g-95a) in 211 regular-season games played with the Preds and 24 points (7g-17a) in 41 Stanley Cup Playoff games before he was traded to the New Jersey Devils in 2019.

THEY SAID IT

Josi on the loss:
"It's obviously frustrating. I thought we had more chances and more O-zone time, especially in the second. We had a lot of good looks and a lot of O-zone time, but we just couldn't find a way to score more goals. And then in the third period they scored and they got the deciding goal and we didn't. I wish that we'd had more of a push and tied it up. It was definitely a frustrating loss."
Mikael Granlund on losing despite having the shot advantage:
"They were defending pretty well. It was kind of tough to get inside of them and we had our looks, but we couldn't get any more goals than that. That's on us, and obviously letting them get four was a little bit too much. So we've got to find a way to be better."
Sissons on looking ahead to Thursday's game vs. Boston:
"I thought we played a really strong hockey game tonight. We had a ton of O-zone time. I thought we led the charge and the physicality in the competitive parts of the game. So I think if we can bring that back into the Boston game, we'll be in a good hockey game and hopefully come out on top."
Head Coach John Hynes on the loss:
"It was a tough loss. It's disappointing that we had a couple of breakdowns where they wound up scoring but offensively I thought we had good looks and unfortunately tonight the puck didn't go in. Obviously you needed three or four to win tonight. We didn't get it."
Hynes on the play of Philip Tomasino in his season debut with Nashville:
"I thought Tomasino came in and he played fast. That was one of the things we wanted to see. I thought he was competitive on the puck. He made some nice plays. I thought he came in and played solid. He looks like he's got more substance to his game. In particular I think his speed and strength looked pretty good tonight."

UP NEXT

The Predators will continue their three-game homestand on Thursday, when they host the Boston Bruins at Bridgestone Arena. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. CT, and the game will be broadcast on Bally Sports South, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio.