GLENDALE, Ariz. - Arizona rookie goaltender Louis Domingue has announced his presence by his play just as the Coyotes seem to have announced themselves as playoff contenders.

"Everybody was doubting this team starting the season, and even a couple of months ago," Domingue said.

"Right now, I think everybody in this room and everybody around the league is starting to take us seriously. You know what? They are going to have to start taking us seriously because we're up in the standings and teams are going to want to chase us out of the playoff run."

Domingue stopped 26 shots for his second career shutout, left winger Tobias Rieder had two goals and an assist and center Antoine Vermette scored his 200th career goal in the Coyotes' 4-0 victory over the Nashville Predators at Gila River Arena on Saturday.

The Coyotes are second in the Pacific Division with 46 points at the midway point of the season after totaling 56 points last year, the second fewest in the league.

"It's a good start," Arizona coach Dave Tippett said. "We have the back 41 to go. If we continue to improve, we'll see where that takes us."

Vermette got his sixth goal of the season on a power play late in the second period, and Rieder had two goals in the third period as the Coyotes (21-16-4) won their third straight and seventh in their last 10 games.

Domingue is 6-0-2 with a .947 save percentage in eight starts, the bulk of his work coming after starter Mike Smith underwent abdominal surgery that is expected to keep him out until after the All-Star break. He has given up three goals in his last three games.

"He's just looks calm out there," Tippett said. "He's doing the job. He's in position all the time. It doesn't look like there is a big scramble any time around."

Nashville (19-16-7) has lost three in a row and four of the last five. The Predators had won six straight games in the series and had points in the last seven.

"There is a concern with the recent stretch and the way we have played ... it's not been good enough," Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. "We've got to be better and these's no excuse."

Vermette's goal came 53 seconds into a power play on a nifty back pass from right winger Shane Doan, who captured a pass from Rieder just outside the crease and pulled it back before delivering it to Vermette in front of a wide-open net.

"I hope I can get 200 more like that," Vermette said. "It was a pretty good play by him."

Rieder tipped in a shot out of the air by center Martin Hanzal in a 4-on-4 situation in the first minute of the third period and scored an empty net with 2:23 remaining to make it 3-0. Left winger Anthony Duclair scored an unassisted goal with 14 seconds left.

Rieder has 10 goals and 26 points this season, four more points than he had in 72 games as a rookie last season.

Duclair was awarded his first career penalty shot when he was dragged down by defenseman Roman Josi just over two minutes into the game, but Carter Hutton stopped the shot on the glove side. Hutton had 25 saves.

NOTES: Predators C Ryan Johansen pushed Coyotes C Brad Richardson in the head with his glove as the two lined up for the opening faceoff. Players from both teams gathered, but nothing untoward occurred. ... Nashville G Pekka Rinne was given the night off after starting Friday's 5-3 loss at Colorado. Rinne, 5-0-0 with a 1.37 goals-against average in his last five games against the Coyotes, has started back-to-back games only once this season. ... The Coyotes opened a seven-game, 14-day homestand after getting five points in a three-game road trip to Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary. ... Arizona is 9-1-2 against its Pacific Division rivals, with its only loss to Vancouver on Nov. 30. ... Coyotes RW Shane Doan has played in 1,426 games, five short of Scott Mellanby and Luc Robitaille for 26th in the league history.