Associated Press
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Pekka Rinne made 18 saves for his seventh shutout of the season, and J.P. Dumont and David Legwand scored in the Nashville Predators’ 2-0 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday night.
The Predators snapped a three-game losing streak, and passed Minnesota for ninth place in the Western Conference — a point behind Dallas.
Ilya Bryzgalov made 31 saves for the Coyotes, who have lost five straight and eight of their last nine. Phoenix is 4-16-1 since the All-Star break.
Dumont opened the scoring at 14:01 of the second period, one-timing Steve Sullivan’s pass over Bryzgalov’s right shoulder from the high slot.
Legwand added an empty-netter with 30.3 seconds left, skating in from center ice and flipping the puck into the net from the left faceoff circle.
Rinne rarely was tested, facing only four shots each in the first and second periods. The Coyotes managed 10 shots in the final period, but had almost no real scoring chances.
Rinne is 12-3-1 since Feb. 1 and recorded his third shutout in six weeks. Three of those wins have come against the Coyotes, with Rinne stopping 72 of 74 shots.
The Predators were without center Jason Arnott and Radek Bonk. Arnott has missed consecutive games with an upper-body injury, while Bonk has been out of the lineup since Feb. 22, also because of an upper-body injury.
Notes: The Predators won the final three games of the four-game
series against the Coyotes. … Phoenix has scored two goals or fewer in nine straight games. … Dumont, Nashville’s leading scorer, has goals in consecutive games after being held without a point in the Predators’ previous three contests. … Six Coyotes players acquired during the team’s five-game trip that started just before the trade deadline made their home debuts.
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