GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Mikkel Boedker scored the only goal of the shootout in the fifth round and the Phoenix Coyotes rallied from a three-goal deficit to beat the Nashville Predators 5-4 Thursday night.
Boedker raced in and lifted a backhander that beat Carter Hutton to start the fifth round of the tiebreaker. Thomas Greiss then ended the game by stopping David Legwand, giving the Coyotes a sweep of their three-game homestand and a 6-0-1 record at Jobing.com Arena.
Greiss survived a shaky first period and finished with 36 saves in 65 minutes before going 5-for-5 in the shootout to help the Coyotes improve to 9-3-2, their best start since the 2000-01 season. Phoenix coach Dave Tippett recorded his 165th win with the Coyotes, tying Bob Francis for the most in franchise history. Tippett accomplished the feat in 308 games -- 82 fewer than Francis.
Hutton made 21 saves in regulation and stopped Mike Ribeiro, Radim Vrbata, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and David Rundblad in the shootout before Boedker scored.
Matt Hendricks, Eric Nystrom and Legwand scored in the first 18:24 of the game to give Nashville its first three-goal lead of the season. But the Coyotes continued an early season filled with rallies by digging out of another deep hole.
Phoenix rookie Jordan Szwarz scored his first NHL goal and Derek Morris made it 3-2 midway through the second period. Paul Gaustad gave the Predators a 4-2 lead when he scored 4:15 into the third period, but Shane Doan and Antoine Vermette beat Hutton in a span of 2:01 to get Phoenix even for the first time at 4-4.
The Predators, in the opening game of a seven-game, 17-day road trip, lost Hendricks to an upper-body injury in the second period.
Legwand had a goal and two assists in the first period as the Predators beat up on Greiss with the aid of some fortuitous bounces.
The Coyotes have been outscored 17-5 in the first period this season and after an active first five minutes were dominated by a Nashville team that had scored 23 goals in its first 12 games.
The Predators needed only 11 shots to put Phoenix in a big hole. Nine minutes in, Hendricks got behind Rundblad and beat Greiss from the right faceoff dot with a wrist shot to the far post. Hendricks' first goal and point of the season was just the beginning for Nashville.
At 14:12 Patric Hornqvist's backhander into the slot hit Nystrom in the chest and deflected past Greiss. Nystrom's third goal put the Coyotes on their heels, and penalties to Ribeiro and Boedker 58 seconds apart gave Nashville another golden opportunity.
Greiss made a nice save on Mike Fisher, but Phoenix's penalty-killers missed two chances to clear the zone before Legwand's pass for Fisher hit Zbynek Michalek in front and deflected into the net with 1:36 left in the period for a three-goal lead.
However, as they did last Thursday when they trailed 4-0 after one period in Los Angeles, the Coyotes crept back into the game with a strong second period, putting lots of pressure on Hutton and the Predators.
Szwarz got Phoenix on the board at 2:21 when he took a snap pass from Michalek and let go a shot that hit defenseman Kevin Klein's stick before skidding under Hutton's glove. Szwarz's first goal and point came in his second NHL game, and the Coyotes fed off the momentum.
Morris, who knocked Hendricks out of the game with a shivering shoulder check, loaded up a bomb from the right circle that beat Hutton over the stick and under the crossbar at 9:51 to put Phoenix back in the game at 3-2.
Coyote defensemen registered a goal and six more points Thursday. They have 12 goals and 41 points this season, leading the NHL in both categories.
Phoenix kept the pressure on Hutton and the Predators for the rest of the second period but came up empty, and Nashville regained the two-goal lead with hard work in the slot. Gaustad outmuscled Lori Korpikoski for a Nick Sapling rebound and stuffed it past Greiss to make it 4-2.
But the Coyotes, who now have 21 third-period goals, had another rally left in them.
With Cullen in the box for a faceoff violation, Keith Yandle made a leaping keep-in at the blue line and found Ribeiro with a quick pass. Ribeiro found Doan steaming up the slot and Doan roofed his 101st career power-play goal at 6:16 to make it 4-3.
Doan started the play that led to the tying goal when he sent Vermette in with a pretty pass. Nashville's Ryan Ellis clipped Vermette from behind with his stick, but Vermette was able to put the puck between Hutton's pads and over the goal line before crashing into the goalie and at 8:17, Phoenix had come all the way back.
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