Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
No place quite like home
For goalie Rinne, Nashville has been almost perfect
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Pekka Rinne is a friendly, polite man off the ice.
Slipping the puck past the Predators goaltender is one of the few ways to anger the 6-foot-5 Finn.
Pucks bouncing past him on the NHL’s biggest stage infuriate him. Rinne chopped his stick against a goalpost not once but twice after giving up a fifth goal a year ago when the Predators were ousted from the playoffs.
That was just Game 7 in the second round.
Rinne went into the biggest game of his career Sunday night needing yet another home victory to force both the defending champion Penguins and Stanley Cup Final to a deciding seventh game back in Pittsburgh. He spent the last 40 minutes of Game 5 on Thursday stewing on the bench as the Penguins finished off a 6-0 rout in what was easily the Predators’ worst playoff loss.
“You have those thoughts (about) why (is) the puck getting deflected in off our guys?” Rinne said Saturday. “You try to work so hard that the luck is also on your side.
“When bounces (are) not going your way, sometimes you question (and) have second thoughts in your head. But that’s life.”
The goalie so competitive he doesn’t like teammates scoring on him in practice was back in Nashville on Sunday, where he has been nearly unbeatable over the last two postseasons.
Rinne’s 13-1 home record over that span includes a 9-1 mark this spring with a 1.44 goals-against average and .949 save percentage. He has allowed two or fewer goals in eight of those 10 games and tied Antti Niemi for the most playoff wins in NHL history by a goaltender from Finland with his 36th.
The Predators haven’t scored in 63 minutes, 23 seconds, since Filip Forsberg’s empty-net goal in Game 4. So Rinne needed to be at his best to give them a chance at their first Game 7 this postseason.
Rinne understands coach Peter Laviolette was trying to wake up the Predators by pulling the veteran after he allowed three goals on nine shots in the first 20 minutes of Game 5. Yet there was no question Rinne would be in the net Sunday night.
“Our backs are against the wall,” Rinne said. “This is our opportunity and you try to do anything in your power and prepare the best you can.”
The Predators knew what they needed to do better in Game 6. Part of that was being better in front of Rinne.
“I know there’s things we can do that can support our goaltender better,” Laviolette said.
The Penguins were trying to become the first team to win the Stanley Cup in consecutive seasons since the Red Wings repeated in 1997 and 1998. One more win would give the Penguins their fifth Cup, tying them with the Oilers for sixth-most all-time.