The Phoenix Coyotes' offense did all they could to put the puck in the net, but in the end, Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne was just too strong, shutting out the Coyotes and handing them a 3-0 defeat.
Coming off a string of bad luck performances, Rinne was in rare form on Tuesday night against the Coyotes, stopping all 33 shots he faced in the win, his first in his last five starts.
In the Phoenix net, Ilya Bryzgalov wasn't terrible, but did allow two goals on just 23 shots, granted those goals came on the power play. Bryz, who has been lights out on the road, gave up an early power play goal, before allowing the second in the latter half of the second period.
Nashville struck early on a Shea Weber power play goal, with David Schlemko in the box for interference. Leading scorer Cal O'Reilly netted his goal in the second period, on the 5-on-3, with both Derek Morris and Adrian Aucoin in the sin bin. Jordin Tootoo added the empty netter to seal the deal.
Phoenix's inability to stay out of the penalty box certainly didn't do them any favors on Tuesday night. Two of the three Nashville goals came on the power play, with the other coming via the empty net in the third period. On the night, the Coyotes went to the box seven teams, each with a different player committing the penalty.
While the Coyotes had chances with those 33 shots, penalties killed them, and their inability to win faceoffs, at just 42 percent, didn't help much either. The Coyotes were visibly gassed, with the special teams, mainly the penalty kill, seeing so much ice time.
The Coyotes will get a chance to salvage this two-game road swing, when they head to Minnesota, for a tilt with the Wild on Wednesday night.