McDonagh scores in OT, Predators rally past Coyotes 

NASHVILLE – Ryan McDonagh scored 1:36 into overtime, and the Nashville Predators rallied past the Arizona Coyotes for a 5-4 win at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday.

McDonagh beat Connor Ingram with a one-timer from the slot after Tommy Novak found him with a pass from behind the net.

“Obviously, our attitude there when we get down two can go one of two ways,” McDonagh said. “I just loved our attitude, our aggressiveness. We just wanted to take that game back over. Some miscues there on my part, especially on that goal against (on the penalty kill), so it felt good to have some redemption there and help the guys get a win.”

Filip Forsberg, Roman Josi, Ryan O'Reilly, Novak and McDonagh each had a goal and an assist for the Predators (27-23-2), who ended a three-game losing streak. Juuse Saros made 27 saves.

“I think we had stretches of the game where I felt really comfortable with where our game was at,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “The special teams in the second period kind of changed a little bit of the tempo of the game. I don’t know if it slowed it down, but that’s what happens. But I liked where we were at the whole game.”

Jason Zucker had three assists, Dylan Guenther had a goal and an assist, and Clayton Keller had two assists for the Coyotes (23-23-4), who have lost five straight (0-4-1). Ingram made 32 saves.

“Pretty disappointing feeling, especially the way we lost and gave that game away,” Arizona defenseman Juuso Valimaki said. “It was right in our hands, and we just kind of shot ourselves in the foot.”

Novak scored a power-play goal to cut it to 4-3 at 6:00 of the third period, beating Ingram with a wrist shot from the left circle.

Forsberg then tied it 4-4 at 9:59 on a rebound in the crease off a shot from O’Reilly.

“You’ve seen it throughout [O’Reilly’s] career,” Forsberg said. “Obviously, a Stanley Cup MVP (in 2019), it doesn’t get more clutch than that. Just watching him play and watching him do all the right things, it doesn’t matter what the score is, if it’s [trailing 4-2] or if it’s 5-0 for us, he plays the exact same way. It’s pretty special to be on a line like that.”

O’Reilly gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 12:28 of the first period with a one-timer in front off a backhand pass from Forsberg.

Travis Dermott tied it 1-1 at 13:10. Zucker wrapped around the left side of the net and passed to Dermott, who beat Saros with a slap shot from the left point.

Josi gave the Predators a 2-1 lead at 11:39 of the second period with a one-timer from the right circle on a 4-on-3 power play.

“We’ve been struggling on the power play, and you see tonight, I think we scored two on the power play, it’s a different game,” Josi said. “It gives you a chance to win every game. I thought we actually moved it pretty well on the first one and had some looks. Just to get that one and get another one was huge. We’ve got to keep that going.”

Guenther tied it 2-2 at 18:33 with a wrist shot from the left circle on the power play.

Valimaki gave the Coyotes a 3-2 lead at 1:45 of the third period with a slap shot from the left point that bounced off Predators forward Gustav Nyquist and defenseman Luke Schenn before beating Saros.

“I think we just kind of got laid back and were not pressing,” Valimaki said. “We were just kind of watching a little bit too much. We were kind of on our heels rather than on our toes. Obviously, penalties were a big part of today. We’ve got to stay on the ice.”

Nick Schmaltz pushed it to 4-2 at 4:07 with a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from below the goal line from Zucker.

“It’s tough to find the words,” Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said. “I think they knew what they were doing. I didn’t like the way we played without the puck. I didn’t like our pace defensively, and they took advantage of it.”

NOTES: Keller recorded his 86th multipoint game, passing Teppo Numminen for the ninth in Coyotes/Jets history. … Josi became the third player in Predators history to score at least 60 power-play goals, joining Forsberg (65) and Shea Weber (80). … Saros recorded his fourth consecutive 20-win season, which is tied for the second-longest streak in Predators history with Tomas Vokoun (2002-03 to 2006-07).Pekka Rinne holds the record with five straight 20-win seasons (2014-15 to 2018-19).