ARIZONA COYOTES VS NASHVILLE PREDATORS 12/23/2019 LIVE 8:00 PM ET

A successful road trip has brought the Nashville Predators closer to a playoff position.

But as the NHL readies to break for the holidays, Nashville's 3-0-1 run doesn't have the Predators quite there yet. They're still a handful of points off the pace -- and they know it all too well. It also places greater importance on Monday's home clash with the Pacific Division-leading Arizona Coyotes.

"It's a good four games for us, but we've got one more job," defenseman Ryan Ellis told reporters following the team's seven-point run through the Northeast. "We can't let our foot off the gas. We have to get the two points at the next game, get a bit of a break, kind of reset and go from there."

The Predators capped the trip with a 4-3 overtime victory in Boston on Saturday, a game after a 5-4 overtime loss in Ottawa, Nashville's only loss on the trip.

"It was a huge road trip for us," said defenseman Roman Josi, whose 13 goals is tied for most in the league by a defenseman. "Nobody on this team was happy with the way we were playing and the position we were in. We're still not happy where we are in the standings, so we've got to keep pushing, but that was definitely a huge road trip."

A road trip that must be built upon for the Predators to reach their expectations.

"We're still in a dogfight," goaltender Pekka Rinne said. "We still have to win more games and put together some streaks, but at least this is a huge road trip against good teams. We're just looking forward to a little break at Christmastime, but we still have one more game at home."

The Coyotes kicked off a quick three-game road trip with a convincing 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday, which continues a recent win-one, lose-one trend they've had for nearly three weeks. The win was a rebound from an 8-5 home loss to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.

"That was a huge bounce-back game for us," said forward Clayton Keller, who collected two goals and one assist against the Red Wings. "It was a bit of a weird start for us, a lot of whistles, but we stuck to the game plan and got a huge two points."

While the Coyotes have posted a middling home record, they have one of the league's best road marks at 13-4-3.

"We've been good all year on the road and had a good feeling about ourselves going into this game," said defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who also had a three-point game in Detroit. "It was nice to get a win here."

Both Ekman-Larsson and Keller have racked up five points in three-game point streaks, while Taylor Hall has reached the scoresheet in all three games he's played since being acquired via trade from the New Jersey Devils. Hall and Ekman-Larsson taking their game to that level is always expected, but Keller is rounding back into the 60-point player he was a couple of seasons ago.

"He's having fun out there, doing the right thing," Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. "When Kells is stopping on pucks, playing an inside game, he's a really good player. That's what he has to do consistently, and I think the last 10 games he's been doing that."