Three surprising mistakes that led to Nashville Predators fumbling away their point streak

The Nashville Predators' franchise record point streak ended on Thursday with an emphatic 8-4 loss to the Arizona Coyotes at Mullett Arena in Tempe.

Arizona (31-37-5) saw Logan Cooley score his first career hat trick, while Nashville (43-26-4) suffered their first regulation loss since Feb. 15.

The streak was bound to end sooner or later, but the way it ended − with poor goaltending and leaky defensive coverage − was surprising to watch.

During the streak, which began on Feb. 17 against St. Louis, the Predators were the best defensive team in hockey, allowing only 1.83 goals per game. Goaltending was a huge part of that effort as Juuse Saros and Kevin Lankinen combined for a .936 save percentage over that span.

But on Thursday, Saros was uncharacteristically poor, allowing six goals on 27 shots for a .778 save percentage.

The first two Coyotes goals leaked through Saros's pads from low danger angles − something we aren't used to seeing from the Nashville goaltender.

Saros was eventually replaced by Kevin Lankinen, who stopped all 11 shots he faced in the third period.

However, it would be unfair to blame the loss on Saros alone. The Predators' defense made several mistakes at key moments, allowing the Coyotes to score a season-high eight goals.

Poor defensive coverage by Nashville Predators contributes to loss

After Gustav Nyquist got the Predators within one goal at 11:08 of the second period, Nick Bjugstad took advantage of a poorly timed line change to skate untouched to the Nashville net. That made it 5-3.

Two minutes later, Nick Schmaltz caught Roman Josi flat footed, beat him around the outside with speed, and scored to make it 6-3.

Breakdowns like this were happening most of the game for the Predators. They seemed stunned by the Coyotes energy and speed at both ends of the ice.

Because the defense was in disarray, the Predators' offense couldn't sustain much pressure. The early goals by Jason Zucker showed promise, especially with Cody Glass stepping in with two assists, but the rest of the Nashville lineup was unable to solve Connor Ingram.

Nashville will look to start a new streak on Saturday, but if they are unable to resolve their defensive issues against the juggernaut Colorado Avalanche, it might be of the losing kind.