Rinne at risk to lose his playoff starting streak
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Pekka Rinne’s string of starting every playoff game for the Nashville Predators since 2010 may be in jeopardy.
That 89-game run may change Aug. 2 when Nashville starts its best-of-five qualifying series with Arizona.
When the NHL suspended play in mid-March, Rinne watched from the bench as fellow Finn Juuse Saros strengthened his hold on the Nashville net with each victory. Now the 37year-old Rinne has had four months to rest up and work out, and he wants to reclaim his starting job.
“I’ve been putting in a lot of work the past four months,” Rinne said Monday after the Predators’ first practice of training camp. “Very motivated from this past season. I feel like it wasn’t my strongest season and want to bounce back.”
Coach John Hynes, hired Jan. 7 to replace Peter Laviolette, is making no commitment to either goaltender with the Predators just starting their first training camp with him in charge. Performance will decide whether Rinne or Saros starts.
“Hopefully, one of the two guys makes it for us in a positive way,” Hynes said.
Rinne, a four-time Vezina Trophy finalist and 2018 winner, is in rare company as one of four goalies in NHL history to start at least 89 consecutive playoff games for one team.
If Hynes picks a starter based on recent play, it would be Saros. The 25-year-old from Forssa, Finland, was in net for Nashville’s past six victories, while Rinne went 1-3-1 in his final five starts, allowing 17 goals. Saros is better in every statistical category except wins, where Rinne is 18-14-4 compared to 17-12-4 for Saros.
“That was pretty much the first time in a long, long time when I was mostly watching games from the bench at the end of the season,” Rinne said. “And I had no problem, the way he was playing.”
Now friendship is pushed aside for competition.
This training camp gives Rinne, who turns 38 in November and has one season left on his contract with Nashville, a fresh start. Rinne spent the break following most of his usual summer training routine with the big difference that he skated for five weeks.