NASHVILLE — Shane Doan scored in the first period, Mike Smith made 25 saves and the Phoenix Coyotes beat the Nashville Predators 1-0 on Friday night to grab a 3-1 lead in their NHL Western Conference semifinal series.
By winning their first game in the month of May, the Coyotes can advance to the conference finals with a win Monday night in Game 5 in Arizona.
The Predators played with forwards Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn scratched for a second straight game, this time the decision by coach Barry Trotz to stick with the lineup that won 2-0 on Wednesday night.
They sorely missed their offense, though the Predators thought they tied the score with 7:12 remaining. But officials waved off the power-play goal because a whistle blew before the puck crossed the line.
The Predators wound up outshooting Phoenix 25-24, but they had chances with the net open they simply missed with Radulov and Kostitsyn on the sideline. Radulov leads Nashville with a team-high six points in the postseason, and Kostitsyn is tied for the team lead with three goals.