Coyotes' season-ending road trip continues with game at Nashville
The Coyotes have two more chances to create some positive memories for the upcoming off-season, starting Thursday night against the Predators in Nashville.
The game can be seen on FOX Sports Arizona Coyotes (click here for channel listings), starting at 4:30 p.m.
The Predators (40-26-14, currently seeded seventh) have already nailed down a Western Conference playoff berth, so their focus turns to staying healthy and gearing up for a probable first-round playoff matchup against Anaheim or Los Angeles. The Coyotes (35-38-7), who conclude their season on Saturday at San Jose, are looking to finish on a positive note.
The Coyotes have lost the first two games of this season-ending road trip -- 5-2 to St. Louis and 6-2 to Chicago -- and have lost 14 of their last 16 away from home.
Mike Smith will be back in goal tonight after Louis Domingue got the start in Chicago. Smith has lost his last six starts against the Predators -- most recently a 5-2 setback on Dec. 1. Domingue has left the team temporarily because of a family matter, and 21-year-old Marek Langhamer has been recalled from Springfield of the American Hockey League to serve as Smith's backup.
Nashville's 4-3 win over Colorado on Tuesday ended a four-game losing streak. Filip Forsberg scored his 32nd goal to pull within one of Jason Arnott's single-season team record set in 2008-09 and Ryan Johansen had two assists to extend his point streak to four games.
The Predators close at Dallas on Saturday.
"We still have a little ways to go in how we want to play, but it's just nice to be back on the winning side of things," Johansen said. "There were a few big plays from some guys in here (Tuesday)."
Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne is 14-6-1 with a 2.00 goals-against average against the Coyotes in his career.
