The Nashville Predators did all they could but score in a 2-1 loss on Monday night to the Phoenix Coyotes. The Coyotes win the series 4-1 and move on to the Western Conference Finals for the first time in team history. Phoenix will play the Los Angeles Kings for a chance to compete in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Goaltender Mike Smith #41 Of The Phoenix Coyotes Celebrates

Two second period goals were enough for the Coyotes to get past Nashville in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals. Derek Morris and Martin Hanzal picked up the tallies for Phoenix. Colin Wilson scored his first goal of the postseason to cut the Coyotes lead to one late in the third period, but Nashville was unable to find the equalizer.

The Predators entered the postseason as one of the Western Conference favorites. The handshakes were barely finished before the ‘what ifs’ began.

“We had some great chances,” Head Coach Barry Trotz said. “We rang one off the post, we had a secondary chance off the side. [Alexander] Radulov pushed it over the other side of the net and there was an open net. I think [Roman] Josi shot it into their guy sliding. So, it’s sort of the way the series went, we just couldn’t bury our chances.” (more…)