Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne kicked out 29 of 31 shots last night, but his teammates couldn’t find the back of the net.
So he lost. Again.
Rinne has enjoyed just one victory in his last eight starts despite the fact that he’s surrendered two or fewer goals in six of those games.
“All year, we let him down all year,” Predators captain Shea Weber said. “We let (Chris Mason) down.
“It’s not their fault, they battle for us every night, they make huge saves, and we have to do a better job for those guys.”
Nashville has been shutout three times in its last five games, but that’s just a small sample of a much larger problem. When it comes to scoring goals, no team has struggled more this season. The Predators rank dead last with an average of 2.23 goals per contest.
On the plus side 18-year-old forward Filip Forsberg made his NHL debut for the Predators on Sunday. He wasn’t able to get a point, but he has plenty of upside and could be part of the long-term solution in Nashville.