In St Paul Sunday, the Nashville Predators rode a 21-save effort from Pekka Rinne to a 4-2 over the Minnesota Wild.
Pekka Rinne picked up win in St Paul – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
The Predators rallied form a 2-0 first period deficit for the win.
“Obviously if we want to win a championship, it’s got to get better. You can’t do that. You’ve got to be able to play with a lead,” Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. “It’s tough to play with a lead in this league. … You’ve got to go after them and try to increase the lead rather than just hold the lead.”
Mikael Granlund and Jason Pominville scored for Minnesota in the first period.
Filip Forsberg had two goals for the Predators in the win and James Neal and Ryan Johansen added goals.
“Our start wasn’t great, but then we kind of got going and were working hard and we just get back in the game,” Forsberg said.
The win was Nashville head coach Peter Laviolette’s 500th career victory.
“[When] you’re in [hockey] a long time, you’re going to run down some long numbers,” Laviolette said. “Those things I think take a backseat to the way guys played tonight, the way they fought for the win and came from behind. … I think I’ll remember it because of that more than anything.”
WATCH: All Predators vs. Wild highlights
Darcy Kuemper made 28 saves in the Wild loss.
The Preds ended a five-game roadie with a 4-1-0 record.
“We knew how important this road trip was, the position we were starting in and knowing how tough it is to travel and all those things,” Predators captain Mike Fisher said. “It’s tested us in a lot of different ways, but we’ve played real hard and we’re coming into our own.”
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