In Tampa, the Nashville Predators pulled off a bit of an upset on Monday night with a 4-1 win over the Lightning.
Pekka Rinne made 38 saves to get the win.
“Everybody knows we’ve been struggling, it’s a big win,” Rinne said. “In the first game … it wasn’t a great feeling. When you lose games, it can get tough on everybody. Considering Tampa Bay is one of the better teams this is a big win for us. It can give us momentum and energy going forward.”
Steve Stamkos was the only goal scorer for the Bolts.
“The way we played in the third, we were desperate, we were pushing the play,” the Lightning’s Barclay Goodrow said. “We had control of the game. If we play like that from the [start] we would’ve put ourselves in a better spot heading into the third.”
Eeli Tolvanen broke the ice in the middle frame to give the Preds a 1-0 lead.
“We played really well in the defensive zone, we turned it up on defense,” Tolvanen. “Everybody came out and worked hard. It was a team effort.”
Viktor Arvidsson and Calle Jarnkrok pushed the elad out to 3-0.
“I think the whole lineup was playing good, playing the right way today,” Jarnkrok said. “I thought the [rookies] had a great game, they played well last game too. That’s what got us the two points.”
Stamkos put the Lightning on the board midway through the third period.
“Everybody is like ‘holy cow you lose a game…or the world’s caving in,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “I look back at our last two losses. Scoring chances are nearly 2-to-1 and we’ve had some pretty good zone time and we’ve done some good things. We just got beat. There have been some times this year that we probably have not played as well as the other team and won some games.”
Mattias Ekholm finished the game with an empty-net goal to ice the win.
“It’s very impressive the way [Rinne] goes about his business,” Predators coach John Hynes said. “The mental intensity you have to have every game to be the starting goal is impressive. It’s so valuable to have him in and around our team, especially when you have a lot of young guys in the lineup.
“Here you have a guy, his jersey is going to be retired, he’s won a Vezina Trophy … the way he competes. He’s a special person. He’s going to have a legacy with the Predators.”
Curtis McElhinney made 22 saves in the loss.
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