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Fluke goal by Radulov pushes Predators past Coyotes

Feb 3, 2008 - 6:09 AM By Jim Diamond PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- You have to be lucky to be good, and Alexander Radulov was just that against the Phoenix Coyotes.

Radulov extended his goal-scoring streak to six games with 50 seconds remaining in overtime as the Nashville Predators edged the Coyotes, 3-2, on Saturday.

Martin Erat had a goal and an assist, David Legwand also scored and Dan Ellis made 35 saves for the Predators, who have won five of their last seven games.

"Rads was really good tonight," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "I thought Marty Erat was really good for us. He scored a big goal. He was really dynamic for us. He was heavy on the puck."

Ellis, who was playing for the first time in four games, also drew the praise of his coach and teammates.

"He was really good," Trotz said. "I thought he was sharp all night."

"Danny was outstanding, and he gave us a huge chance to win," Radulov said. "He deserves to be more than third star of the game."

Captain Shane Doan and Steven Reinprecht tallied for Phoenix, which had won the first two meetings between the teams this season.

"I thought our guys played hard," Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky said. "It was a solid effort by both teams and very physical. I think it was a very good hockey game from every aspect. We would have loved to have gotten the two points."

In danger of having his streak halted, Radulov kept it going with the help of a fortunate bounce. Radek Bonk unleashed a slap shot from the top of the right faceoff circle that was stopped by the blocker of goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov.

The puck then hit the shoulder of Radulov, who was standing on the doorstep, and bounced off the top of Bryzgalov's mask and into the net at 4:10 of overtime.

"It bounced off of the goalie, then off of my shoulder and (his) head and then in," said Radulov, the 15th overall pick in 2004. "They all count. Everybody is happy that the team won, and that is the best thing."

"It's disappointing," Doan said. "We were only (50) seconds from going into a shootout. It's one of those games you don't want to lose."

Radulov's streak would have come to an end had it not been for Reinprecht, who forged a 2-2 tie with 2:57 left in the third period.

Rookie Peter Mueller stormed into the offensive zone and fired a shot that went between the pads of Ellis and hit the right goalpost. But Reinprecht pounced on the loose puck, tapping it across the goal line on his backhand for his 13th goal of the season.

Nashville held out hope the tally would be waved off, but video replay officials deemed it a clean goal.

"I thought it was in, but when they were looking at it on the replay, I was hoping that it was not," Ellis said. "That was a tough rebound off of the post, and I wasn't able to get back there and cover it before it went across the line."

Despite picking up a point as a result of Reinprecht's goal, the Coyotes were not satisfied.

"It was big for us to get that point, but it's not enough when you are in as tight of a race as we are in, especially with a team you are battling with," said Doan, whose club is 10th in the Western Conference but just four points behind Anaheim for fifth.

The Predators are in eighth place, just two points ahead of the Coyotes.

"We would have liked to have gotten the two points and given them nothing, but they got the one point," Trotz said. "The last thing we wanted to do was lose that game. We got a big goal by Rads and one point on Phoenix and two on a few other teams."

Unlike his teammate Radulov, J.P. Dumont was unable to stretch his personal streak. The veteran right wing failed to get on the scoresheet, ending his run of consecutive games with a point at 16.

Bryzgalov finished with 34 saves for the Coyotes, who fell to 10-4-2 since a 4-2 loss to Detroit on December 29.

Legwand scored the game's first goal at 3:31 of the opening period.

From the right faceoff circle, Erat sent a pass to Legwand, who was tied up with Phoenix defenseman Nick Boynton in the low slot. The puck first tipped off Legwand's stick, then glanced off Boynton's skate and past Bryzgalov for a 1-0 lead.

"We've been giving up the first goal in the first minutes quite regularly lately," Reinprecht said. "It's not a good habit. We need to keep from doing that."

Erat doubled Nashville's advantage less than six minutes into the second. After carrying the puck through the offensive zone, Erat pulled up in the right faceoff circle and fired a wrist shot over the left shoulder of Bryzgalov at 5:53 for his 16th goal.

"He's a pretty big guy who is tough to score on," Erat said of Bryzgalov. "It was nice to get that one."

Doan halved the deficit midway through the period, wristing the puck past a screened Ellis from the top of the slot at 11:56.

Legwand and teammate Rich Peverley both were sent to the penalty box at 14:31 of the second period for slashing. But despite having the 5-on-3 advantage for two full minutes, the Coyotes were unable to get the game-tying, power-play goal.