Pekka Rinne earns a shutout, but not a win as Nashville loses in 10-round shootout to Phoenix

The highlights were few and far between tonight between the Phoenix Coyotes and Nashville Predators as they went scoreless through regulation and overtime, before Phoenix prevailed in a 10-round shootout. Both goalies (Pekka Rinne for Nashville, Ilya Bryzgalov for Phoenix) were dominating in this one, especially during the shootout in which only 3 of 20 shooters scored (15%, as opposed to a typical 33% scoring rate).

Follow after the jump for reaction and the advanced even-strength stats. Remember, thanks to the spiffy new NHL widget you can find down there in the right sidebar, video highlights are available for this game as soon as they're posted by the league.

This is the 4th NHL game this season that went through 65 minutes of scoreless play before heading to a shootout, and credit has to go to both teams for sticking to sound defensive hockey. There were bodies clogging the shooting lanes all night, and as mentioned before, both goalies were outstanding.

And yes, despite the eventual loss, Pekka Rinne gets credit for a shutout.

Nashville's top 5 defensemen had to step up tonight and all play more than 20 minutes, as Cody Franson was injured on his first shift and did not return. Tom Callahan indicated that it was an upper-body injury that will be re-evaluated tomorrow. With John Glennon's news that Alexander Sulzer is already in Nashville to see doctors about an injury himself (which is not deemed serious), perhaps he could be called up for Thursday's game against Colorado if needed.

The regulation part of the contest moved very quickly, with few stoppages of play and just one power play for each side. The overtime, however, was more free-flowing (as you'd expect with 4-on-4 hockey), and each team threatened on a couple occasions to end the game.

The goalies, however, were in command here, as they were in the shootout as well. 7 of the 10 rounds went without a score, and Nashville needed a score from David Legwand in Round 3 to just keep it going. The next 12 shooters were all stopped before Adrian Aucoin beat Rinne glove-side, and Shea Weber missed the net in Round 10 to give Phoenix the win.

If you're looking for cheap Nashville Predators tickets, we've got you covered. Remember that the two remaining home games this week (Thursday vs. Colorado, and Saturday vs. San Jose) will not be on local TV.

Let's give it up for Jordin Tootoo! He celebrated his 27th birthday by firing 4 shots on net in just under 12 minutes of ice time (although I was worried that he was going to take a Slashing penalty on Shane Doan in the waning minutes of the 3rd period).