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Laviolette doesn’t blame Rinne, whose save percentage took another hit last night

Pekka Rinne

Pekka Rinne

AP

Predators coach Peter Laviolette didn’t blame his goalie, Pekka Rinne, for last night’s 6-3 loss to Philadelphia.

Instead, Laviolette blamed the players in front of Rinne.

“It’s difficult to fault him,” Laviolette told The Tennessean. “There was the first goal that was a breakaway. Our defensemen got picked at the blue line. Another one was a breakaway. It came off of (Shea Weber’s) broken stick and a busted play. ... Those were about the only two plays where we didn’t really make a bad defensive mistake.”

Still, the individual stat line was ugly. Rinne allowed six goals on just 19 shots. His save percentage now sits at .903.

How concerning is that?

Well, there are 26 NHL goalies who’ve had at least 25 starts, and nobody’s save percentage is lower than Rinne’s .903.

So, pretty concerning.

Whether it’s Rinne’s fault, or it’s the players in front of him, or it’s a combination of the two, it’s all a far cry from last season when Rinne was among the league leaders in save percentage, and a Vezina Trophy finalist to boot.

After winning four straight on the road in Western Canada, the Preds have dropped two in a row at home. They’re only one point up on Minnesota for the final playoff spot in the West.

And, oh by the way, here’s what they’ve got coming up:

preds