The Arizona Coyotes have dropped eight straight on home ice and seven of their last eight overall following a 5-1 loss to the Nashville Predators Thursday night.
Antoine Vermette opened the scoring with his seventh of the season just over four minutes into the first; however, it was all Nashville after that.
Mike Fisher, James Neal and Ryan Ellis scored first period goals to give the Preds a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes.
Calle Jarnkrok and Olli Jokinen added third period goals for Nashville. The Predators have now won back to back games and both meetings with the Coyotes.
“We’ve done everything from practice hard to video to anything you can imagine trying to get us out of it,” said Coyotes coach Dave Tippett. “Ultimately, we have to get on the ice and get the job done if we’re going to get the results we want. Just 1-on-1 battles that we’re losing, and that’s unacceptable. We’ll just keep trying to find people to win those battles. We’re not finding the results we want so the frustration continues to build.
“But until we turn that frustration into mental resolve and getting the job done, more frustration will pile up.”
Mike Smith stopped 33 shots in the loss while Pekka Rinne picked up the win making 31 saves.