Player Of The Night: Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators.
The Nashville Predators were able to steal a win in Chicago on Friday night thanks to a sensational goaltending performance from Pekka Rinne.
Rinne stopped 43 out of 44 shots in the win and continued his recent dominance over the Blackhawks
Dating back to the start of last year’s playoffs, where the Predators swept the Blackhawks in the first round, Rinne is 5-0-1 against the Blackhawks and has only allowed six goals. He has allowed more than one goal in a game just twice and never more than two.
His save percentage in those games: .970.
You could say that for the time being he has their number.
Highlight Of The Night.
Jeff Skinner is one of the NHL’s best (and most underappreciated and overlooked) goal scorers and has been for quite some time. He scored his sixth goal of the season on Friday night. But it was not necessarily the goal that makes the highlight. It is the impossible assist by his teammate, Justin Williams.
Another angle of that spinning setup by @JustinWilliams! #Redvolution #STLvsCAR pic.twitter.com/jc6XLhlQ7R
— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) October 28, 2017
My goodness that is an amazing play.
It still was not enough to give the Hurricanes a win as they dropped a 2-1 decision to the St. Louis Blues.
Factoid Of The Night.
The Vegas Golden Knights just keep winning in ways that almost no other expansion team has. What an incredible run they are on to start the season.
The @GoldenKnights 5-game win streak ties longest such streak by any team at any point in first NHL season (1926-27 NYR and 1979-80 EDM). pic.twitter.com/FPIh73Rt3a
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) October 28, 2017
Misc.
-- With his 32-save effort in the Vegas Golden Knights’ dismantling of the Colorado Avalanche Oscar Dansk recorded his first career shutout as well as the first shutout in the history of the Golden Knights franchise. He is only in the lineup due to injuries to Marc-Andre Fleury and Malcolm Subban. In the past seven days Dansk has picked up his first NHL win (in relief of Subban), received his first NHL start (which he also won), and then recorded his first NHL shutout. Quite a week for the former second-round pick.
-- The New Jersey Devils let a two-goal lead slip away in the final two minutes of regulation but were still able to beat the Ottawa Senators in a shootout. They are now 7-2-0 on the season.
-- Craig Smith scored the game-winning goal for the Nashville Predators. It was his 100th goal in the NHL.
-- Alexander Radulov is starting to heat up for the Dallas Stars. He scored his third goal of the season to lift the Stars to a 2-1 win in Calgary. He now has five points in his past four games.
-- Josh Anderson’s third goal of the season gave the Columbus Blue Jackets a 2-1 overtime win over the Winnipeg Jets.
Scores and recaps
Vegas Golden Knights 7, Colorado Avalanche 0
Columbus Blue Jackets 2, Winnipeg Jets 1
New Jersey Devils 5, Ottawa Senators 4
St. Louis Blues 2, Carolina Hurricanes 1
Nashville Predators 2, Chicago Blackhawks 1
Dallas Stars 2, Calgary Flames 1
Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.