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Rinne, Predators rebound to tie series vs. Jets

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P.K. Subban and Pekka Rinne boosted the Predators to an important Game 4 win over the Jets as Nashville evened its series with Winnipeg.

Pekka Rinne and the Nashville Predators needed this one.

Game 4 wasn’t technically a must-win game for the Predators, but few teams are equipped to fight back from a 3-1 series deficit against the imposing Winnipeg Jets. Nashville avoided such a predicament by holding on to tie the series 2-2 instead thanks to a 2-1 win on Thursday.
[NBC’s Stanley Cup Playoff Hub]

Patrik Laine finally broke a goal-scoring drought to keep Rinne from technically having a perfect night, yet the Vezina finalist was splendid nonetheless. Rinne stopped every shot he faced at even strength (29 out of 29), only allowing that Laine power-play marker with 51 seconds remaining in the third period. Rinne had turned aside some golden opportunities, including moving laterally well enough to stop a high-quality Mark Scheifele opportunity - before Laine made things interesting. Ultimately, Rinne made 32 out of 33 saves.

His most memorable one came when he somehow succeeded in desperately stopping a first-period chance with his stick. That was good enough to earn its own post.

One cannot help but wonder if Laine would have even scored if P.K. Subban was on the ice. Subban took a penalty late in the third to open up the chance for that power-play goal, which must have been agonizing for the elite defenseman.

Subban was splendid for much of the contest beyond that slip-up, putting up nice possession numbers in demanding situations, and scoring what would stand as the game-winning goal with a howitzer on the power play. This extends Subban’s goal streak to three games (and he pitched in an assist during that hot streak).

While it’s always easier on the nerves to cruise to victory, there were a lot of heartening signs for the Predators in tying this series at 2-2.


  • Again, Rinne was fantastic in this game.
  • While the last minute caused some serious nail-biting for Predators fans, the team did manage to protect a lead this time around. They did so by mostly slowing the Jets’ high-powered offense down, at least about as much as any team reasonably can. It wasn’t just about Rinne, even though he was brilliant.
  • Despite rambunctious players like Scott Hartnell and Ryan Hartman being in the lineup (and Kevin Fiala being a curious omission), the Predators learned from Game 3 and maintained sound discipline. Both teams scored on the power play in Game 4, but each squad only received two power-play opportunities. Maybe that comes down to officials choosing to “let them play” or other factors, yet on paper, that seems like a very promising development.
  • Hartman also added a goal, so Nashville continues to receive production from supporting cast members.

Through four contests, this second-round showdown is more or less what we expected. The two teams have flexed their muscles at times, and we’ve also seen some back-and-forth thrillers, nasty moments, and a double-overtime treat.

Now this series boils down to a best-of-three, continuing a theme of the second round (if the Bruins win Game 4 of their series, all four series will at some point be tied 2-2).

With each team getting one road and one home win so far, it’s unclear if this will matter, but the Predators would get two of the three contests in Nashville if the series goes the distance of seven games. For all we know, this matchup of two juggernauts could come down to smaller advantages, especially if the key figures are all peaking at the right time.

Few things seem to come easily for the Jets and Predators, which could make things for even more fun as the stakes rise.

Game 5 takes place on NBCSN at 9:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.


James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.