Goaltender Ivan Prosvetov recorded his first NHL victory and third-period goals by Barrett Hayton, Jack McBain and Nick Schmaltz were the difference as the Arizona Coyotes claimed a 4-1 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday in Tempe, Ariz.
Brett Ritchie scored in his debut for the Coyotes, who are not in playoff contention but have won two consecutive games and have posted a 16-11-3 record at home. Clayton Keller collected two assists.
Prosvetov, a 2018 fourth-round draft choice, made 39 saves in his NHL season debut after being summoned from the AHL Tucson Roadrunners. Prosvetov had played in six previous NHL games prior to Thursday.
Cody Glass scored for the Predators, who have lost two straight games but fell in regulation for just the second time in eight contests (5-2-1). Goalie Juuse Saros stopped 39 shots.
Nashville remains six points out of a playoff spot but has three games in hand on the Winnipeg Jets, who hold the second Western Conference wild-card spot.
Ritchie, who just joined Arizona after a trade with the Calgary Flames, opened the scoring in the first period. Ritchie set up shop in the slot and deflected J.J. Moser’s point shot for his seventh goal of the season.
Hayton’s power-play goal at 11:41 of the third period doubled the lead. Keller’s shot was stopped, but Hayton was on the spot for the rebound and buried it for his 11th goal of the campaign.
McBain converted another rebound goal 49 seconds later to make it a 3-0 affair, pouncing on the puck after Lawson Crouse’s shot was stopped. It was McBain’s 10th goal of the season.
Glass spoiled Prosvetov’s shutout bid with exactly two minutes remaining, but Schmaltz rounded out the scoring with an empty-net marker, his 21st goal of the season. Schmaltz has scored goals in 10 of his past 14 games.
Although not as busy as his Nashville counterpart from start to finish, Prosvetov held the fort. His biggest stops came late in the second period when he denied Ryan McDonagh when the Predators defenseman had a partial breakaway and then made a sprawling save on Kiefer Sherwood on the rebound attempt.
–Field Level Media
