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Friday, Mar. 17 9:00pm ET
Johnson's OT goal topples Coyotes | |||||
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PHOENIX (AP) -- Hard work is paying off for the Nashville Predators. Greg Johnson, following the never-quit mantra of coach Barry Trotz, scored with 1:04 left in overtime Friday night, sending the Predators to a 4-3 victory over Phoenix that kept the Coyotes from moving up in their division. "We never give up anything," said Scott Walker, who had a goal and also assisted on Johnson's goal. "Last year, I said I'd never played on a team that came back so many times. I think that says a lot about the guys' enthusiasm and youth." The Coyotes, who led the NHL after one of the best starts in their history, lost second place in the Pacific Division to Los Angeles this week and needed two points to pull even with the Kings, who lost to St. Louis earlier. Instead, the Predators forced Phoenix to settle for a point and a 3-9-1 record in its last 13 games. "From our own end to the other end, we've got to get a little harder as a team," Travis Green said. "We've been having too many breakdowns, and we've got to turn it around." Jeremy Roenick took the blame for the Coyotes' lackluster play, despite scoring his 33rd goal on a penalty shot. But coach Bob Francis said Roenick was only leading the way. "We can talk until we're blue in the face, but until each one of us as individuals assumes some of the accountability, we're not going to get out of this," Francis said. Rookie David Gosselin, playing his third NHL game, scored in the third period to rally the Predators, and Tomas Vokoun gave up goals to Roenick, Green and Mika Alatalo in the first period, but made 23 of his 33 saves the rest of the way to snap a four-game losing streak. Sebastien Bordeleau and Walker had the goals that put the Predators in position to tie when Gosselin, who was called up from Milwaukee on Monday, got his first NHL goal. "You want to play well and make a good impression, and I'm sure that helps," he said. He took a pass from Craig Millar and let fly from the slot 8:07 into the third period. Vokoun made spectacular saves on shots by Shane Doan, Alatalo and Roenick in the final minute of the third period, and smothered a shot by Dallas Drake on a 2-on-1 midway through overtime. Then Johnson, speeding toward the net, took a pass from Walker at the crease and flipped it past Sean Burke for the win. "I lost track of it after the faceoff, and Scott picked it up," Johnson said about his first game-winning goal of the season and sixth of his career. "I went to the net, and he passed it hard enough that all I had to do was redirect it." "He is a guy who has had revolving wingers on his line, so it was nice to see him get one," Trotz said. "Especially the game-winning goal." Nashville outshot the Coyotes 13-7 in the second period, but Burke, who had 27 saves overall, overcame his early lapses and preserved his 3-2 lead. Roenick and Green scored unassisted in the first period. Roenick, tackled by Richard Lintner to set up the free shot 4:44 into the game, skated down the slot, faked left and went right, tucking the puck behind Vokoun for his second straight conversion in three career penalty shots. It gave Roenick one more point (73) than he had last season, and his most in six years. Green scored 1:42 later, taking the puck off the stick of Randy Robitaille for a shot that bounced between Vokoun's legs and sent Phoenix to a 2-0 lead. The Predators got on the board when Ville Peltonen picked up a loose puck, passed to Bordeleau and screened Burke's line of vision while Bordeleau scored with 8:20 left in the period. Nashville tied it at 2-2 with 3:56 to go on Walker's slap shot from the circle, but Alatalo scored 49 seconds later after a pass from Juha Ylonen off the boards behind the net. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Nashville Clubhouse Phoenix Clubhouse RECAPS Washington 4 Carolina 2
Nashville 4 AUDIO/VIDEO   Jeremy Roenick scores on his second penalty shot of the season.avi: 944 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1   | |||||