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 Hutton recorded his first shutout of the season and defenseman
Roman Josi had a goal and an assist as the Nashville Predators
blanked the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-0 on Sunday to hold on to first
place in the Central Division.
Hutton, who has been filling in for star goaltender and MVP
candidate Pekka Rinne, made 21 saves. It was Hutton's second career
shutout -- the other one coming last April 5 against San Jose.
Rinne missed his seventh straight games with a knee injury. Hutton
has started six times in that stretch and posted a 3-1-2 record.
"Pekka's arguable one of the best goaltenders in the world," Hutton
said. "I can't be Pekka. We're two different goalies with two
different styles. I'm just concentrating on stopping shots and I've
been able to do that because the guys in front of me have been
playing so well."
Left wingers Gabriel Bourque and Eric Nystrom and center Mike Fisher
also scored for the Predators (32-11-6). Center Filip Forsberg had
two assists.
On the heels of a five-game winning streak, the Predators had gone
1-2-2 in their last five games before Sunday. The win enabled them
to maintain a two-point lead in the division over the St. Louis
Blues, who won 4-3 at Washington.
Nashville had lost its previous five games against the Penguins,
getting outscored 19-6. Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who had
been in net for all five of the wins, gave up four goals on 24 shots
Sunday.
"I thought our guys were really sharp in front of (Hutton), but he
had to make some saves and he was sharp as well, so it was nice to
see him get that win," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "I
thought we had a good attitude out there. We were checking forward,
the forecheck was good, the neutral zone forecheck was good.
"Defensively we tried to stay underneath. They've got a lot of
talent on the other side and I think you've got to pay attention to
defense when you play a team like Pittsburgh."
The Penguins (28-14-8) fell to 2-4-2 in their last eight games and
haven't notched back-to-back wins since Jan. 10 and 13.
The Penguins went 0-for-4 on the power play and their frustration
showed. The Predators improved to 16-for-16 on the penalty kill in
their last four games after giving up two power-play goals in each
of their previous three games.
"It's just consistency is what it boils down to," said center Sidney
Crosby, who leads the Penguins with 52 points but has only one in
the last five games. "With our overall game, with our power play.
You can't be good one shift and take a couple off. Consistency is a
big part of our game that we need to find."
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Nashville took control early with two goals in the first 6:38 to
move In front 2-0.
Josi scored his ninth at 4:05 on a slapshot from just inside the
blue line as he one-timed a pass from Forsberg.
A little more than 2 1/2 minutes later, Bourque scored his third. It
was unassisted as he intercepted a clearing pass from behind the net
by Penguins defenseman Simon Despres and scored from the slot.
The Predators took advantage of another Penguins turnover late in
the second period when Nystrom scored his sixth goal with 41 seconds
remaining, beating Fleury on the backhand. The goal came after
Crosby made a poor pass in the Penguins' zone.
Fisher scored on the power play 8:30 of the third. His 12th goal
came from on the inner edge of the right circle.
NOTES: The Predators are hopeful G Pekka Rinne, who has missed the
last seven games with a knee njury, might be able to take part in
Tuesday's morning skate before that night's game against Toronto at
Nashville. ... Penguins D Christian Ehrhoff missed his second
straight game as he remained under concussion protocol after being
struck in the head Wednesday in a loss at Washington. D Derrick
Pouliot was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American
Hockey League to add depth on the blue line. ... Pittsburgh C Evgeni
Malkin missed his fifth game in a row with a lower-body injury but
practiced Saturday and could return for Wednesday night's game at
Edmonton. ... Penguins RW Beau Bennett was back in the lineup after
being benched for Friday night's win at New Jersey. ... Nashville C
Paul Gaustad and Pittsburgh D Robert Bortuzzo were each credited
with six hits.
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