Pekka Rinne helps Nashville Predators shutdown Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 -NHL Match Update
Nashville goalie, Pekka Rinne, had a spectacular performance by blocking 38 of 39 shots taken on his net by Toronto, shutting down the Maple Leafs and helping the Predators advance, 4-1, Thursday night, November 17, 2011, at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville,
Tennessee, United States.
Toronto on the other hand, faced their third straight loss after having one of the best starts to the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season and have not been able to comeback ever since.
After raining as the top team in the Eastern Conference, Toronto has dropped down to the sixth position in the division with 22 points. Nashville has now advanced to the fourth number spot, tied with third number Los Angeles Lakers with 23 points on the
Western side.
"We are playing much better than before," Nashville’s Sergei Kostitsyn said, who picked up three assists. "We have all come back from injury and needed a couple of games to get better."
Martin Erat fired off the opening goal 5:48 into the opening period for his fourth of the season for Kostitsyn’s first assist of the night.
John-Michael Liles added Toronto’s first to finally put them on the scoreboard midway through the next 20 minute round during their first power play opportunity of the night while Nashville came right back to break the, 1-1, tie with Ryan Suter potting his
fourth.
"Tonight was one of those nights where they couldn't get much going, and we took advantage of some of their turnovers and mistakes," Suter said. "Everyone is playing better. Everyone is coming back hard and playing hard in the 'D' zone, and Pekks is standing
on his head for us."
Erat scoring another 2:05 into the third and final period of regulation while Matt Halischuk made the insuring goal with less than 30 seconds to play before the final buzzer sounded.
Nashville Predators hope to continue winning, eyeing a third straight win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday for their second last game at home before taking off on four-games on the road.
Toronto has a lot of catching up to do and plan to start off with a win against the Washington Capitalise when they meet the same day.
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