Coyotes take first game
Big names show up in Game 1 win over Preds
Big-name players show up in Game 1 win versus Predators.
The right guys seem to have arrived at the right time for the Coyotes.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Phil Kessel and Clayton Kellers – three Coyotes players who severely underperformed this season – all hit the scoresheet in the first period in a 4-3 win on Sunday over the Nashville Predators in Game 1 of the best-of-five postseason series between the two clubs.
Ekman-Larsson, in his second season serving as captain, scored the first goal of the series off a bizarre rebound that made its way past Predators goaltender Juuse Saros. Ekman-Larsson displayed some of his vintage assert
iveness and released a low-percentage shot that caromed off a Nashville defender and somehow found twine.
The Coyotes’ top line of Kessel, Taylor Hall and Christian Dvorak scored less than 3 minutes later to increase the lead. Hall carried the puck behind the Nashville net before dishing to Kessel, who shot the puck on Saros. After Saros stopped the first shot, Dvorak, stationed in front of the net, cleaned up the rebound and made it 2-0.
Keller gave the Coyotes a three-goal lead when he connected on a powerplay goal at 15:42 of the first period. Effective puck movement created some gaps in the Nashville defense and Keller took advantage of the space in the low slot and sniped one past Saros.
“They just took charge,” Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet said of his big-name players. “It’s not even just those guys, but you’ve got to handle pressure by going after the pressure. Phil, ‘Hallsy’ and ‘Dvo,’ that line was great. (Oliver) was outstanding. You could tell he took charge out there.
“We just can’t have passengers. We need everybody to play, and those guys brought it to a different level and it was nice to see.”
Although the Predators would make it a 3-1 game with three seconds left in the opening period, the Coyotes re-established
their three-goal lead when Michael Grabner converted a shorthanded breakaway in the second period.
For the Coyotes to collect their first postseason win since May 20, 2012 took a complete effort. It took 40 saves by goaltender Darcy Kuemper. It took two points apiece from the top line of Dvorak, Hall and Kessel. And it took some big hits from all over the roster, including Lawson Crouse (five) and Christian Fischer (three).
Still, the game was far from a cakewalk for the Coyotes, who found themselves losing control of the game as play moved on.
The Predators scored twice in the first 10 minutes of the third period and threatened to steal the game from under the Coyotes’ noses. Again, Tocchet leaned on his veterans to stabilize the momentum.
“I thought we really didn’t give them that much in the last five minutes,” Tocchet said of his team’s response to Nashville’s late charge. “It’s a good sign for us, but they did start to take over the game in the third. We were taking penalties, but our veteran guys kind of calmed everyone down – even me.”
Lineup changes
Coyotes
forward
Nick
Schmaltz (neck stiffness) was unable to suit up for Game 1 due to lingering effects of a hit he received from Vegas Golden Knights forward Ryan Reaves in Thursday’s exhibition game.
As a result, rookie Barrett Hayton slid into the lineup and Tocchet elected to shuffle his forward combinations.
The biggest switch was Kessel’s ascension to the top unit, replacing Conor Garland, who moved to Hayton’s right wing and opposite Grabner to th left. Grabner, too, was a late addition and replaced Vinnie Hinostroza, who was a healthy scratch.
The moves paid dividends for the Coyotes, who got a multi-point performance out of Kessel – something he did just six times all season – and a shorthanded goal from Grabner, who hadn’t scored since Dec. 28, 2019.