Game 6 vs Coyotes 2020

Lore & Background

The 2020 Qualifying Round was unlike any other in NHL history, played in a secure bubble in Edmonton due to the pandemic. The Predators, seeded 11th, faced the 6th-seeded Coyotes in a best-of-five series that was extended to a full five games after the NHL's return-to-play format. Game 6—actually the fifth game of the series—was a winner-take-all clash, with the winner advancing to the traditional first round. The Predators had battled back from a 3-1 series deficit to force this decisive game, riding the energy of their veteran core and the goaltending of Juuse Saros.

In Their Own Story

The Edmonton bubble was a strange, sterile world—the stands empty but for rows of cardboard cutouts, the roar of a crowd replaced by the scrape of skates and the thud of bodies against the boards. Inside the rink, the air felt thin with tension. With the series tied 2-2, every shift stretched into an eternity. The Predators, led by captain Roman Josi, threw everything they had at the Coyotes, but Arizona matched their desperation with relentless grit. Then, in the third period, a goal by the Predators was waved off after a grueling video review for goaltender interference—a call that left the team and their fans stunned, the silence in the bubble somehow louder than any roar. The game slipped into overtime, where a single defensive lapse sealed their fate. As the Coyotes mobbed Brad Richardson in celebration, the Predators skated off in silence, their season over in the most agonizing way possible—not with a bang, but with a whistle and a disallowed dream.

Reader's Guide

The match was the culmination of a tense, back-and-forth series where momentum swung like a pendulum. The Coyotes struck first, but the Predators answered with two goals—including a slick redirect from Mikael Granlund—to take a 2-1 lead. Arizona tied it in the second period on a power-play snipe by Phil Kessel, and the game remained deadlocked into the third. With under 10 minutes remaining, the Predators appeared to take the lead on a goal by Matt Duchene, but the call on the ice was overturned after a lengthy video review determined that a Predators player (Craig Smith) had made incidental contact with Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper inside the crease. The goal was disallowed, and the game stayed tied. In overtime, a defensive breakdown—a failed clear by Ryan Ellis—allowed Brad Richardson to pounce on a loose puck and fire it past Juuse Saros, ending the series and the Predators' season. The controversial call remains a raw nerve for Predators fans, who argue it was a borderline decision that swung the outcome of a game that felt like a coin flip. The game is remembered as a bitter end to a hard-fought series, a stark reminder of the fine margins between victory and defeat in playoff hockey.

Did You Know?

• The Predators had never lost a playoff series to the Coyotes before this matchup.
• Juuse Saros started Game 6 after Pekka Rinne had started the first four games of the series.
• The disallowed goal in Game 6 was reviewed for over five minutes before the final decision was announced.