Nashville Predators stomp struggling Arizona Coyotes: By the Numbers

There might be a little curse developing in Gila River Arena on the venue’s home team.

The Arizona Coyotes struck first Thursday night against the Nashville Predators, but the road team came back with a fury, piling on goal after goal and not letting Arizona reach the back of the net again.

Nashville had a two-goal lead by the end of the first period, and after a scoreless second, the visitors tacked on a couple more before the final horn sounded.

The Predators trampled Arizona by a final of 5-1, continuing the Coyotes’ home drought. Five different players were responsible for all of the Preds’ goals.

Arizona dropped to 10-16-3 with the loss, leaving the club with the second-worst record in the Western Conference. The Predators improved to 19-7-2, their 40 points putting them at a tie for second place in the Central division.

Here’s a look at Thursday’s lopsided game, by the numbers:

1-5

As many goals as Nashville scored, Arizona actually did a decent job of not letting it happen when the Predators had a man advantage. Nashville went just 1-for-5 on power plays Thursday, while Arizona scored once in three opportunities with a man advantage.

6

Antoine Vermette and Keith Yandle both took a whopping six shots on goal, while Zbynek Michalek, somewhat surprisingly, took five. Nashville held a slight lead in shots on goal with a 38-32 advantage.

7

The usual suspects were involved on Arizona’s lone goal of the game. On a power play, Vermette put in his seventh goal of the year, which is tied for second for the team lead. Yandle picked up his team-leading 17th assist on the play, while Mikkel Boedker recorded his ninth. That trio is at the top of the Coyotes points leaderboard. Also of note is that Yandle has a point in five straight games against Nashville.

8

The Coyotes last won at Gila River Arena on Nov. 4 against Toronto. Since then, they’ve lost eight straight times at home, including two overtime losses. Additionally, Arizona is now on a season-worst four-game losing streak with its latest defeat.

9

Mike Smith was guarding the goal for all five of the Predators’ goals. It was the ninth time this season that the Coyotes goalie has allowed four or more goals in a game. Arizona is just 5-14-2 in the games Smith has started this season.

10

Not only are the Coyotes on an eight-game losing streak at home, but they simply are having trouble getting the puck in the net in Glendale. They have scored only 10 goals in that span, while opponents have put in 28.

35-18

The Coyotes apparently took out the anger of losing by hitting the Preds more than they got hit in return. Arizona had a surprising 35-18 advantage in this category.