Coyotes defeat Predators in Game 1 of Cup Qualifiers

Darcy Kuemper made 40 saves for the Arizona Coyotes in a 4-3 win against the Nashville Predators in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers at Rogers Place on Sunday.

Christian Dvorak had a goal and an assist, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Clayton Keller and Michael Grabner scored for the Coyotes, the No. 11 seed in the Western Conference.

"[Kuemper] gives us a ton of confidence back there," Keller said. "He's been our best player all year and he's going to continue to do his thing. He's going to be huge moving forward."

WATCH: [All Coyotes vs. Predators highlights]

It was the first postseason win for the Coyotes since defeating the Los Angeles Kings 2-0 in Game 4 of the 2012 Western Conference Final. The Coyotes lost that best-of-7 series in five games.

"I think the guys are pumped," Grabner said. "It's nice to get out to a start like this. It's big to get the first one out of the way and now we can focus on the next one, and I think we got a lot of great efforts today from a lot of guys. It's going to have to carry over to the next game."

Game 2 of the best-of-5 series is in Edmonton, the Western Conference hub city, on Tuesday (2:30 p.m. ET; NHLN, NHL.TV, SN360, FS-TN, FS-A PLUS). The series winner advances to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"We're kind of a quiet team but this is the loudest I've ever heard our team as coach (since 2017-18)," Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. "They were chirping each other, getting into the game. That's what you need. You need to rely on your team to give you that juice (without fans).

"There's highs and lows in the playoffs. You can be happy we won, but it's more like an even keel for me right now."

Filip Forsberg scored two goals, Ryan Ellis scored, and Juuse Saros made 33 saves for the Predators. Pekka Rinne's streak of 89 consecutive postseason starts for Nashville, since April 16, 2010, ended, the fourth-longest by a goalie in NHL history.

"I can't answer (who will start Game 2) but I liked [Saros'] game," Predators coach John Hynes said. "He had some situations where I thought he stayed mentally focused. He had some big saves throughout the game.

"We make sure that we treat all our players honestly and direct. [Pekka] is no different."

There hasn't been a best-of-5 series in the NHL since 1986. The League used them for the preliminary round of the playoffs from 1980-86, and the team that won Game 1 went on to win the series 87.5 percent of the time (49 of 56).

Ekman-Larsson gave the Coyotes a 1-0 lead when his slap shot from the left point deflected off the stick of Kyle Turris and left shoulder of Matt Duchene before going over Saros' left shoulder at 7:59 of the first period.

"That was a big start for us," Grabner said. "If you get a goal like that, it gives us momentum, and we'll take any bounces we can get in the game and the series."

Dvorak made it 2-0 at 10:52 of the first on a wrist shot from the slot. Keller scored a power-play goal at 15:42 for a 3-0 lead.

Forsberg pulled the Predators within 3-1 on a power-play goal at 19:57 of the first. Grabner intercepted a pass and scored on a shorthanded breakaway at 16:25 of the second period for a 4-1 lead.

"Obviously we scout them and know their tendencies, what they are going to do, but I was just trying to read where [Forsberg] was trying to go with the puck and it seemed like he was looking cross-ice," Grabner said. "The puck was rolling a little bit, so I kind of had to switch what I was going to do (on the shot) and it probably helped me, to be honest."

Ellis scored on a wrist shot from the left point 30 seconds into the third period to make it 4-2. Nashville got within 4-3 when Forsberg scored a power-play goal at 8:56.

"I thought it was hard-fought (in Game 1)," Hynes said. "They won the first period, they capitalized on their opportunities. We had a real strong push in the third but didn't capitalize like they did when they had their push."

Kuemper made 18 saves in the third period.

"He's just very calm," Tocchet said. "You talk about (Montreal Canadiens goalie) Carey Price and other big goalies ... they're very calm and they're not hyper. [Kuemper] has learned that over the last couple of years. He's not getting rattled and he's played big for us since I've been here."

Arizona was without forward Nick Schmaltz (unfit to play). As part of the NHL Return to Play Plan, a team is not permitted to disclose player injury or illness information.

NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers contributed to this report