Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Rinne named NHL’s first star of the month

Pekka Rinne

Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne, of Finland, gloves a St. Louis Blues shot during the first period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)

AP

The Nashville Predators badly needed Pekka Rinne to bounce back after his third sub-par season in the last four years.

So far, he’s delivered.

Today, Rinne was named the NHL’s first star of the month, after going 9-1-2 with a .949 save percentage in November.

Rinne has started all but four of the Predators’ 22 games. Young Juuse Saros is the current backup, after Marek Mazanec struggled in the No. 2 role and was eventually assigned to the AHL.

While Saros, 21, was good in his only two starts, Rinne is the veteran with the $7 million cap hit. Last season, the 34-year-old didn’t play like one of the NHL’s highest-paid goalies, when he finished with a .908 save percentage in 66 starts.

The Preds as a team have been much better since a rocky start to the current season, but there have still been games when Rinne has been busy. Tuesday in Colorado, he made 37 saves in a 5-3 victory over the Avs. His overall record sits at 10-5-3 with a .934 save percentage.

Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov and Edmonton’s Connor McDavid were the second and third stars of the month, respectively.