Coyotes top Predators in OT to win Game 4 of Cup Qualifiers, end series

The Arizona Coyotes advanced to the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 4-3 overtime win against the Nashville Predators in Game 4 of the best-of-5 Stanley Cup Qualifiers at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Friday.

Brad Richardson scored the game-winner at 5:27 on a backhand off his own rebound for his first point of the series.
"Obviously, you're pretty pumped up (after the goal) and there's a lot of thoughts afterward. ... We went through a lot of stuff] here," Richardson said. "The team needed to mature and grow, and now it just feels like a lot of hard work came to fruition. We have a long way to go, but that's a big hurdle for our team and it feels really good."
***[WATCH: [All Nashville Predators vs. Arizona Coyotes highlights]*
It was the first postseason series win for the Coyotes since they reached the Western Conference Final in 2012, the last time they qualified for the Playoffs. It came 12 days after John Chayka quit as general manager and president of hockey operations. He was replaced by assistant GM Steve Sullivan.
Filip Forsberg tied it 3-3 for the Predators with a one-timer from the left circle with 32 seconds remaining in the third period and the goalie pulled for an extra attacker.
"You have to give credit to Arizona," Nashville coach John Hynes said. "They found a way and we didn't. I really believed we grew mentally in this series, we stayed with it a lot more. When you look at the way the team performed today in a must-win game, coming from behind, there was never a sag. We battled back, we gave ourselves a chance and unfortunately couldn't find a way to win it."

Michael Grabner, Phil Kessel and Jordan Oesterle scored, and Darcy Kuemper made 49 saves for the Coyotes, the No. 11 seed in the Western Conference. Oliver Ekman-Larsson had two assists.
"It's huge for the organization," Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said. "You're always trying to chip away at certain things. Three years ago, we said we wanted to chip away at playing some important games, and this was probably the biggest, important game this franchise has had since.
"The resiliency of a lot of things that's been thrown at the organization and the team ... I'm just proud of the guys the way they dealt with it."
The Coyotes will play the Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights, St. Louis Blues or Dallas Stars in the Western Conference First Round. The Avalanche (2-0-0), Golden Knights (2-0-0), Blues (0-2-0) and Stars (0-2-0) are playing in the round-robin portion of the Qualifiers to determine the top four seeds.
"We're all feeling pretty good," Kuemper said. "Anytime you can win a series, it's a big accomplishment. We played a really challenging team; they got so much skill over there. But we rose to the occasion and were able to win the series. We're going to enjoy it and start focusing on the next round."

Matt Duchene and Viktor Arvidsson scored, and Juuse Saros made 30 saves for the Predators, the No. 6 seed in the West. Nashville has a 12.5 percent chance at the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft in the Second Phase of the NHL Draft Lottery, to be held Monday.
Arvidsson did not play in the third period or overtime after taking a shot in the midsection from teammate Mattias Ekholm late in the second period. As part of the NHL Return to Play Plan, a team is not permitted to disclose player injury or illness information.
"You lose [Arvidsson] ... he was one of our best players," Duchene said. "I don't think our effort wavered, I don't think our mentality wavered for one second, so that was good to see. Going forward, I think we build on the process of what we did this series. Sometimes you have to take a step back before you move forward."

Grabner's second goal of the series, on a wrist shot from the right face-off circle, gave the Coyotes a 1-0 lead at 17:27 of the first period.
Kessel made it 2-0 on a slap shot from right face-off dot at 1:37 of the second period after Saros turned the puck over.
Duchene pulled the Predators within 2-1, scoring on a tip in front on the power play at 4:29 of the second.
"We had to make changes with how we played," Duchene said. "This is some of our best hockey. It'd be nice to be sitting here, 3-1 for us, but unfortunately we're on the losing end. The sting we feel now, we have to keep that in the back of our minds."

Arvidsson made it 2-2 from the bottom of the left face-off circle at 8:26 of the second.
Oesterle scored his first NHL playoff goal on a wrist shot through traffic to give the Coyotes a 3-2 lead at 4:21 of the third period.
"You're always going to have some guys that might not play or might not be the first guy in the first game to shine," Tocchet said. "Oesterle was on the fourth pair and wasn't even going to play, but as training camp went on, this guy was one of our best defensemen. I love the underdog guys. (Forward) Vinnie Hinostroza didn't dress (the first two games of the series) but didn't pout and makes a play on the winning goal (with the primary assist).
"It's [the] Stanley Cup Playoffs, and that's what it's all about. It's the guys being able to stay with it. Our star guys were incredible, but I like those underdog guys too."
NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers contributed to this report