The Nashville Predators ended their homestand
with consecutive wins, and they hope it provides them with some
momentum as they begin a challenging portion of their schedule.
The Predators begin a four-game road trip against the Phoenix Coyotes on Monday night.
Nashville moved within four points of fourth-place Detroit in the
Western Conference with a 3-2 win over the Red Wings on Saturday. The
Predators (40-21-7) took four of a possible six points on their
homestand and have gone 6-2-1 in their last nine games -- seven coming at
home.
Taking advantage of the home-heavy
stretch in its schedule was admittedly important for Nashville. It plays
eight of its next 10 on the road, including the next four over a
seven-day stretch.
"Whenever you're at
home you want to come out and win," defenseman Ryan Suter said. "We
wanted to get the two points and hopefully now we can take that momentum
on the road with us."
Andrei Kostitsyn
scored two power-play goals in the win, snapping Nashville's 0 for 8
drought with a man advantage over the previous five games. Both goals
were set up by brother Sergei.
Andrei Kostitsyn has three goals and three assists in five games with Nashville since arriving in a trade with Montreal.
"They are going to make things happen," David Legwand said of the
brothers. "It was huge for us. Andrei is an added plus. He is smart. He
is big and strong. He has a great shot."
While the Predators have the second-best power-play unit in the NHL
(21.4 percent), they are 3 for 19 in the last nine road games.
Nashville begins this trip looking for its second win in Phoenix. It
is 1-2-0 against the Coyotes this season, but won 3-0 in the only
meeting at Jobing.com Arena.
The Coyotes
(34-25-10), who are seventh in the West but just three points behind
Dallas for the Pacific Division lead, snapped a season-high five-game
skid (0-4-1) with a 3-0 victory over San Jose on Saturday.
Mike Smith stopped 42 shots for his fifth shutout of the season, and
Mikkel Boedker and Michael Stone scored second-period goals. Stone,
called up last month from the minors, also had an assist.
Phoenix had surrendered 17 goals during the losing streak and the
once-hot Smith had struggled. He started four of the defeats in the
slide and was pulled less than four minutes into his previous start
against Columbus on Tuesday. Smith preceded his skid with wins in 11
consecutive starts.
"I did not played my
best in the last week, and it's a tough time of the year not to play up
to your potential," Smith said. "This was a gutsy win for the team, and
showed why we can be a good hockey team."
If Smith is back in net Monday, it would be his first start this season
against the Predators. Jason LaBarbera has started the previous three
games, giving up six goals.
Smith is 3-2-0 with a 2.47 goals-against average against Nashville, but hasn't faced the Predators since 2009 with Tampa Bay.
