Rinne, Predators take command against favoured ‘Hawks

CHICAGO — Pekka Rinne was great again. Ryan Johansen had a big night and Nashville got a lift from a couple of unlikely scorers.

The Predators are singing a sweet tune on their way home to Music City, threatening to play the Chicago Blackhawks right out of the post-season.

Rinne made 30 saves in his second straight shutout and picked up two assists, helping Nashville rout Chicago 5-0 on Saturday for a 2-0 lead in their first-round series.

“Character win the first one, and then tonight played a really solid game,” Rinne said.

Johansen had a goal and two assists as Nashville added a dominant performance to its taut 1-0 victory in Game 1 on Thursday night.

Ryan Ellis, Harry Zolnierczyk, Colton Sissons and Kevin Fiala each scored their first career playoff goal.

The Predators became the fifth NHL team to begin a post-season with consecutive road shutouts, joining Detroit (1936), Buffalo (1983), New Jersey (1995) and Toronto (2001). Game 3 is Monday night in Nashville.

Chicago coach Joel Quenneville shuffled his lineup, inserting rookie Vinnie Hinostroza and Dennis Rasmussen and benching veteran Jordin Tootoo and John Hayden. But it was more of the same for the Blackhawks, who once again looked out of sync against the Predators’ active defence.

“That was frustration to a different level,” Quenneville said. “That wasn’t fun to watch. I think you can look at it, we dug ourselves a tremendous hole across the board.”

Chicago was shut out in consecutive playoff games for the first time since it was blanked in three straight in April 2002 against St. Louis. It has dropped six in a row dating to the end of the regular season.

The sellout crowd of 22,175 booed as the final seconds of the second period ticked off and there were more jeers in the third.

“It seems like right now we’re playing a little bit tight,” forward Marian Hossa said. “Obviously, everybody’s trying to score that goal. We have to play our way, the way we’ve played all season. We have to take a deep breath, throw this one in the garbage and focus on Game 3.”

The Blackhawks took the last four of their five meetings with the Predators during the regular season. They also controlled much of Game 1, outshooting the Predators 29-20, albeit with many of the attempts coming from outside.

But this one was all Nashville, right from the start.

“Overall I thought it was a much better consistent effort tonight than it was in Game 1,” Predators coach Peter Laviolette said.