Friday was a night for goalies in the NHL and the Nashville Predators’ Pekka Rinne was one of them as he made 43 saves to backstop the Preds to a 2-1 win over the host Chicago Blackhawks.
“It feels great, a big division game,” Rinne said. “A big two points. Obviously not the start we wanted, but we were able to hang in there. And then from the second period on, I thought we played pretty well, started creating more offense, creating more chances and eventually got on the board. Big goals by [Jarnkrok] and [Smith].”
Rinne was supported by Calle Jarnkrok and Craig Smith who struck for goals in the middle frame.
“It feels good,” Smith said. “After the first, I thought we made some good adjustments. I thought we came out with a head of steam. Obviously there was a lot of penalties so it was a bit choppy as far as the flow of the game, but I thought we handled it well. Just stayed positive. Like I said, we just made adjustments, we were committed to it and we found a way to get the points.”
The Preds improved to 5-3-1 on the season.
“It was a slow start,” Nashville head coach Peter Laviolette said. “We didn’t talk about much systematically or mistakes we were making. We talked about speed and effort and changed the lines to give it a different look, but you’ve got to give the players the credit because they went out in the second and third period and won a hockey game.”
Artem Anisimovhad the lone strike for the Hawks when he scored late in the first period to stake the club to a 1-0 lead.
“Definitely a tough loss,” Chicago head coach Joel Quenneville said. “I mean there were more positives than a lot of games. We probably played our best period outside of the first two periods in the Pittsburgh game.”
[WATCH: All Predators vs. Blackhawks highlights]
Corey Crawfordtook the loss on 28 saves.
“It’s a tough loss but we played well. We can definitely build on a lot of things tonight and just bring that tomorrow. We were skating well and moving the puck, being creative offensively with speed. Couldn’t really ask for more. I guess we just needed some puck luck around the net. But we did a lot of good things,” Crawford said after the loss.
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