Saturday, Mar. 17 8:00pm ET
Dunham's 30 saves thwart Coyotes
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BOX SCORE
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The Nashville Predators reached a modest
milestone with a 4-1 victory Saturday night against Phoenix.
It was win No. 29 of the year, one more than the expansion team
won in either of its first two seasons. With the Stanley Cup playoffs
virtually out of reach, the new franchise victory record was a major
motivator.
"It's meaningful," said Nashville coach Barry Trotz. "It is
something we have talked about from day one and that's progress. We
try to set the bar higher and higher and soon the bar will be high
enough."
Scott Walker of Nashville called win No. 29 "a big thing for us."
"It has been on our minds for a couple of games," Walker said.
"It's nice to take off and have a big game at home. We did all the
little things and battled harder than we have in long time."
The Predators are 11-0-1 this season in games when they have
scored at least four goals.
Walker opened scoring at 9:25 of the first period when he took a
pass from David Legwand and beat Phoenix goalie Robert Esche with a
shot from the right circle. Nashville goaltender Mike Dunham made 30 saves as the Predators were outshot 31-22, ending a six-game streak in which they had outshot their opponents.
"This was an easy game to stay focused because it was up and
down," Dunham said. "We need to play with a lot of emotion in the
position we are in. Emotion is the thing that is going to keep us
going as we try to get as many wins as we can."
Phoenix's only goal was scored by Joe Juneau on a power play at
3:25 of the second period. Jyrki Lumme fired a shot off Dunham that bounced in front of the goal. Juneau pushed the puck past Dunham, who was rolling in front of the goal crease. The Coyotes failed on five other power plays and Nashville was scoreless on four.
Patric Kjellberg scored Nashville's second goal two minutes
later when he backhanded a rebound of a shot by Legwand into the
net. Kjellberg has
Kjellberg set up Cliff Ronning's goal at 5:26 of the third
period. Ronning fired a one-timer to the wide side of the net to
beat Esche.
"Unfortunately, that made the mountain that much steeper,"
said Phoenix coach Bob Francis. "Nashville has a good work ethic
and they were sitting there waiting on us. They did their job."
Vitali Yachmenev closed out the scoring with an empty-net goal
on a slap shot from inside the blue line at 19:28 of the third.
Game notes
Nashville's Pavel Skrbek left the game in the first period
with a mild concussion. He did not return. ... Nashville coach
Barry Trotz has used 38 different line combinations this season.
... Coyotes managing partner Wayne Gretzky skated with the team for
the second straight day of the road trip. ... The Coyotes are still
waiting for Michael Handzus to make his debut since being acquired
from the St. Louis Blues. Handzus is reporting pain in his
surgically repaired abdominal wall.
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ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard
Phoenix Clubhouse
Nashville Clubhouse
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Colorado 5
Detroit 3
Los Angeles 1
San Jose 0
Philadelphia 2
NY Rangers 1
Toronto 5
Florida 3
Boston 3
Montreal 2
Buffalo 3
Washington 2
NY Islanders 3
Columbus 3
Tampa Bay 5
Pittsburgh 1
Nashville 4
Phoenix 1
St. Louis 2
Calgary 2
New Jersey 6
Edmonton 5
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