Nashville Predators defy odds, shutout Phoenix Coyotes 2-0 -NHL Playoffs Update
There will be a Game 5 ladies and gentlemen as Nashville Predators defied all odds to shutout the raging Phoenix Coyotes, 2-0, getting back into the 2012 National Hockey League (NHL) Stanley Cup Western Conference Semi-Final series with their first win on
Wednesday, May 2, 2012, at the sold-out Bridgestone Arena in Tennessee.
Pekka Rinne played some amazing hockey in Game 3 as Nashville was down by two games already and could have been facing a possible elimination at home in Game 4. Predators knew that if Rinne did not pick up the pace, it would be hard to keep Phoenix at bay.
With 32 saves, Rinne dominated the night and registered his first shutout of the series, sending an aggressive message to the Coyotes that the Predators want to play.
Nashville had to make a tough decision when they suspended two of their top players, Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn, for violating team rules but as the punishment had to be served, Predators found other ways to win.
David Legwand fired off the first of the night 8:10 into the opening period and Mike Fisher was right behind him to capitalise on the momentum as he extended the lead to 2-0 in the next minute.
Lucky for Nashville, either team failed to score in the remaining 50 minutes of regulation; giving them the much deserved and needed win.
Nashville’s power play killing worked tremendously in their favour as Phoenix had four opportunities to get a goal throughout the contest with an extra skater on board but Rinne’s skilful blocking and scrambling to divert the puck at all costs gave them
the match.
The match got even more intense in the final minutes as Sergei Kostitsyn was booked at the 12:59 mark of the third period followed by Martin Erat’s penalty with less than six minutes remaining, giving Phoenix ample opportunities to score and at least level
the match.
It will definitely be interesting to see whether Nashville Predators can keep up the momentum with Game 4 being at home against Phoenix, but Coyotes will also come in prepared to put them on the verge of elimination as the series returns to Glendale, Arizona,
for Game 5.
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