Pekka Rinne records his second shutout in a week

Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne stopped all 32 shots he faced last night in a 1-0 win over the Minnesota Wild, and improved his record to 6-0. This was Rinne's second shutout in his last three starts. Goaltender Dan Ellis was initially slated to start, but was scratched due to a injury during practice. Pekka answered the call and has now save 81 of the last 83 shots he has faced; his 2 shutouts are tied for 3rd in the NHL. Rinne will get his 4th consecutive start in net when the Predators travel to St. Louis Tuesday night.


Preds' Rinne just cares about wins

David Boclair, dboclair@nashvillecitypaper.com
Posted: Friday, December 5, 2008 10:29 pm

Pekka Rinne is a bottom-line kind of goalie.

The Nashville Predators’ 6-foot-5 rookie measures his success by one statistic – wins. In that regard, he has been perfect this season.

“That’s the biggest stat for me – wins,” Rinne said. “Obviously, it doesn’t hurt me to get a couple of wins. That means I might get a few more games.

“That’s the only goal for the whole team – to get the ‘W.’”

Rinne made just 19 saves in defeating Colorado, his fewest in a victory this season. He also never let the Avalanche score a go-ahead goal, which was decidedly different than some of his previous performances.

Rinne’s first career shutout, Monday at Buffalo, earned him the right to play against Colorado. He also defeated Atlanta 4-3 on Nov. 28 – another game in which the Predators never trailed – and thus has been in the nets for the team’s last three victories.

Prior to this season the 2004 eighth-round draft choice had appeared in a just three NHL games total and had a 1-1 record.

“I’ve played a few games now in a row and things start to feel pretty normal,” he said. “I’m kind of getting used to NHL speed and NHL skill level and stuff like that.”

“Between (Rinne) and (Ellis) I think our goaltending is lining up very well,” Trotz said. “The ratio is really good right now – Ellis is getting probably two-thirds of the games. That sets us up real well for from now hopefully until the end of the season.”

“Pekka does what he does,” Trotz said. “He seals the ice. He’s a big body. He’s got great instincts and reflexes and more than anything it’s confidence for a goaltender. When they feel good about themselves they move well and they’ve got flow."

“Now that he’s got a couple games under his belt and he has some success he feels good about himself.”