NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Roman Josi scored 20 seconds into overtime, and the Nashville Predators rallied in the third period to beat the Arizona Coyotes 3-2 on Thursday night in their home finale.
Arizona goalie Mike Smith appeared headed toward his fourth shutout this season, making save after save with the Coyotes up 2-0 until Connor Murphy went to the penalty box for elbowing at 7:13 of the third.
Nashville needed only 13 seconds before captain Shea Weber scored his 20th goal this season from the left circle, and Filip Forsberg tied the franchise-record with his 33rd goal with 18.3 seconds left to force overtime. The puck had barely dropped when Josi scored quickly with a wrister past Smith.
Antoine Vermette and Shane Doan scored for Arizona. The Coyotes have lost three straight overall and 15 of their last 17 on the road.
Nashville had nothing on the line with the first wild-card berth secured in the Western Conference. The Predators finished their home schedule winning two straight and will wrap up the regular season Saturday night at Dallas.
The Coyotes had been outscored 11-4 in losing the first two of their four-game trip to end the season. They appeared ready to end their road skid until the Predators' furious finish.
The Predators took the first four shots, including a 2-on-1 in the opening minutes where Smith stopped a shot from Josi off his left pad. The Coyotes, outscored 11-4 in losing the first two of their four-game road trip to end the season, went up 1-0 when Vermette tipped in a shot from Zbynek Michalek at 6:26.
Doan gave the Coyotes a 2-0 lead with his team-leading 28th goal this season midway through the second. Brad Richardson found Doan in the left circle with a cross-ice pass, and the 39-year-old Doan scored on a slap shot.
Smith kept making save after save with his best stretch coming late in the second period. Filip Forsberg got a pass up the left boards and had a breakaway on Smith only to see the goalie stop both his first shot and Forsberg's attempt off the rebound. Then Smith got help from the crossbar on a shot by Josi at 14:55, though the goalie appeared shaken up briefly from stretching out his left leg reaching up for the puck.
Weber started the comeback scoring on a snap shot from the left circle at 7:13 of the third. Forsberg tied Jason Arnott's single-season goal record tipping in a shot by Josi, and the Nashville defenseman finished off the win.
Game notes
Weber scored his 14th power-play goal and tied the single-season franchise record also held by Andy Delmore (2002-03) and Paul Kariya (2005-06). ... The Predators set a single-season franchise record with 695,828 fans this season, filling the arena to 99.2 percent capacity. Nashville also averaged 99.2 percent capacity in 2012-13, a lockout-shortened season. ... The Predators also set a record with 35 sellouts this season and averaged 16,971 per game.
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