Nashville 4, Minnesota 0
When: 8:00 PM ET, Thursday, October 24, 2019
Where: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Referees:
Dan O'Halloran, Furman South
Linesmen:
Travis Gawryletz, Andrew Smith
Attendance:
17386
By Field Level Media
Colton Sissons stayed hot with a goal and an assist, and Pekka Rinne made 26 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Nashville Predators beat the visiting Minnesota Wild 4-0 on Thursday night.
It was a second straight victory for the Predators, who rank among the NHL leaders with 42 non-shootout goals while starting 6-3-1. Rinne, who improved to 6-0-1 with a 1.98 goals-against average on the season, stopped 13 shots in the first period en route to his 56th career shutout.
Sissons' short-handed goal late in the third period iced the contest for the Predators. All four of his goals have come over the past six games.
The lone negative of the night for Nashville came when star forward Matt Duchene left with an apparent lower-body injury.
Miikka Salomaki, Calle Jarnkrok and Craig Smith also scored as Nashville beat Minnesota for the second time this month. The Predators, who opened 2019-20 with a 5-2 home win over the Wild, have won seven straight in the series.
Minnesota saw its bid for a third consecutive victory end while being shut out for the second time in four games. Alex Stalock made 17 saves for the Wild, who are 3-7-0 on the season.
Though neither team scored in the first period, Minnesota made a statement by outshooting the hosts 13-4. Rinne was not overly exerted, but he did have to work at times to keep Minnesota off the scoresheet.
Nashville finally broke through 37 seconds in the second period. Taking a drop pass from Sissons, Salomaki, who didn't make the team out of camp, blistered the puck past Stalock for his first goal of the season.
Then with 29 seconds left in the second, the Predators made it 2-0. Jarnkrok took a pinpoint pass from Viktor Arvidsson and drove a shot that clanged off the far post and in for his second goal of the campaign.
Off a perfect pass from Nick Bonino at the side board, the veteran Smith banged home a shot right in front of Stalock to ice the game for Nashville at 6:58 of the third period.
Filip Forsberg, who has five goals and three assists, missed a fourth straight game for Nashville due to a lower-body injury.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Minnesota |
|
Nashville |
N/A |
Points |
Colton Sissons 2 |
N/A |
Goals |
Colton Sissons 1 |
N/A |
Assists |
Colton Sissons 1 |
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
Colton Sissons 1 |
Alex Stalock .810 |
Save Percentage |
Pekka Rinne 1.000 |
Alex Stalock 17 |
Saves |
Pekka Rinne 26 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
Minnesota
|
26 |
0 |
0-2 |
1-1 |
2 |
24 |
Nashville
|
21 |
4 |
0-1 |
2-2 |
4 |
29 |
Upcoming Games
-
Nashville will play their next game on the road against Tampa Bay. The Predators have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .750 after a loss.
-
Minnesota will play their next game at home against Los Angeles. The Wild have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .286 after a loss.