Nashville Predators 4, Dallas Stars 0: Pekka Rinne Records NHL-Leading 5th Shutout

What more can you ask from a hockey game? Despite missing Colin Wilson and Patric Hornqvist, the Predators mustered a strong effort tonight in a 4-0 triumph at Dallas. We had a Pekka Rinne shutout (his 5th, leading the NHL), a penalty shot goal for depth-line banger Rich Clune, a fight for Ryan Ellis, and strong special teams play.

Speaking of Clune’s penalty shot, listen in to his intermission interview, in which he touted his perfect shootout record from his last year in junior hockey. Hmm… lobbying for some shootout action from Barry Trotz, perhaps?

The only thing that didn’t go Nashville’s way was that another forward got knocked out of the lineup, as Paul Gaustad didn’t come out for the 3rd period due to an upper body injury. Stay tuned for further details on that front…

Random Observations

• It was nice to see Nick Spaling get a goal, he’s had a pretty lousy season so far, and you hope that a score like that can spark some confidence and offensive assertiveness.
• As I wrote this morning, “The real area of opportunity for Nashville is in the Stars’ lack of discipline, which has caused them to work the penalty kill more often than any other team in the league.” Both the second and third Preds goals came after guys got behind the Dallas defense that you wouldn’t normally expect, Scott Hannan and Rich Clune.
• Peks was on tonight, frustrating the Stars on a number of chances that looked like surefire goals. A bounce or three went his way, for sure, but nobody’s complaining over here.
• Perhaps most encouraging was the performance of the penalty kill tonight which successfully held down the fort on four occasions.
• Bourque’s goal tied him for the team lead with Colin Wilson, at seven.
• If Gaustad is out for any length of time, faceoffs could become an issue. Craig Smith, for example, only won 2 of 9.
• I can’t help but wonder what Vern Fiddler was muttering under his breath while watching Rich Clune score on that penalty shot, after his “you won’t be here in two weeks” crack during the Preds & Stars last matchup. I think this new division rivalry will work out just swell, don’t you?

Boxscore – Game Summary – Event Summary

Roll the video highlights…

And your advanced stats…

Nashville Predators

The largely negative numbers are mostly due to the Score Effect, as the Stars got most of the offensive action in 5-on-5 play after the Predators took the lead.

Dallas Stars

Who is your Predator of the Game?