In Chicago Thursday night, Pekka Rinne made 29 saves to backstop the Nashville Predators to a 1-0 win over the Blackhawks.
Pekka Rinne made 29 saves in Game 1 win over Chicago – file photo by Lewis Bleiman
The win gives them a steal of home ice in the series and a 1-0 series lead.
“We did a really good job messing up their systems and didn’t give them too much flow,” said Rinne, who got his second NHL postseason shutout. “They like to play with a lot of speed and puck possession, and we did the right things on the ice. I think that’s a credit for us to interrupt their style of play.”
Viktor Arvidsson scored the game’s only goal in the first period and the Preds clamped down on the Hawks’ offense to preserve the lead.
For Nashville, the win is a shot of confidence against a team they have had miserable luck playing.
“This is why they call it a series,” Rinne said. “Now it starts. I’m expecting it’s going to be a long series, and we’ve got to keep our foot on the gas pedal and focus on Game 2. But, obviously, it’s a good position to be in on the road, to be up 1-0 with the next one on Saturday. That’s going to be a big one.”
The Predators’ defense kept the Hawks’ shots to the outside and limited any quality chances.
“If you are going to make a deep playoff run, everyone is going to have to be great, but your goalie is going to have to be your best player. There are going to be times where he is going to have to be the difference-maker, and tonight he was phenomenal,” Nashville’s Ryan Ellis said if his goal.
For Chicago, the issue was finding their offense, a problem they had during stretches of the regular season.
One game does not a series make, but Chicago will need to respond in Game 2 on Saturday.
“I don’t think there’s any excuse in the book that you can throw out there that would stand its ground. It’s the first game of the playoffs. We should have a better start than we did tonight, but sometimes there’s some nerves and you need to shake things off,” the Blackhawks’ Jonathan Toews said of the poor offensive effort.
[WATCH: All Predators vs. Blackhawks highlights] | [RELATED: Complete Nashville vs. Chicago series coverage]
Corey Crawford made 19 saves in taking the loss for Chicago.
“We’ve just got to keep getting better in this series,” Crawford said. “That was a pretty good game by us, but we have better in us.”
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