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 That brought chants of "Pek-ka" and "M-V-P" from the Bridgestone
Arena crowd during the Predators' 5-1 win over the Sharks on
Tuesday.
"Their first power-play (unit) is extremely talented and so skilled
-- they're going to make some plays," Rinne said. "It was just
desperation. Obviously, you need to be a little bit lucky to make
some of the saves tonight. They put some rubber at the net."
Rinne, 15-1-1 in his last 17 games, made 42 saves to earn the win.
"He was very tough to beat," Sharks coach Todd McLellan said. "He
stood his ground and played a tremendous game. The number of saves
he made on the power play where we had a chance maybe to crawl back
into the game, he did an exceptional job."
Rinne helped Nashville end a 4-0 homestand with an exclamation
point.
"There were times where he really just stood on his head," Predators
coach Peter Laviolette said. "There was a flurry on the power play
for San Jose where he made three or four unbelievable stops in a row
and then even one after the whistle for good measure."
 After suffering a rare shutout loss to San Jose back in December,
Nashville displayed a lot more firepower in the rematch for the
Predators' sixth straight win.
Center Craig Smith scored twice for Nashville (39-12-6), which leads
the NHL with 84 points.
"The power play's been pretty good lately," Smith said. "It seems
like anybody can chip in at any time."
Defenseman Shea Weber, left winger James Neal and center Paul
Gaustad also scored for the Predators, who improved to 25-3-1 at
home.
Defenseman Matt Irwin got San Jose off to a good start with a goal
early in the first period.
"It was the start we wanted, for sure," Irwin said. "We knew going
in (Rinne) is a big goalie. He doesn't give up on second or third
opportunities. He made some saves, we hit some posts and he stood
tall for them tonight."
San Jose's backup goalie Alex Stalock (5-7-1) suffered through a
rough night as Nashville scored five times in the first two periods.
The Sharks (29-22-8) have gone 2-5-2 in their last nine games.
San Jose struck quickly when Irwin and center Melker Karlsson got
loose on a two-on-one breakaway. Karlsson fed Irwin with a pass in
the low slot, and from there he fired a wrist shot that beat Rinne
to the stick side at the 5:26 mark to give San Jose a 1-0 lead.
Nashville tied it up eight minutes later after center Mike Fisher
won a faceoff and backhanded the puck back to Weber at the point.
Weber cranked a slap shot past a screened Stalock high to the stick
side at 13:42 of the first period for his 14th goal of the season.
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The Predators took a 2-1 lead when Smith batted a rebound of
defenseman Mattias Ekholm's shot out of midair for a goal with 3:58
left in the first period.
Nashville struck twice early in the second period, increasing its
lead to 4-1.
Smith scored his second straight goal 53 seconds into the period
when he fired a power-play wrist shot by Stalock's left skate to
give the Predators a 3-1 lead.
Gaustad, a penalty killer and faceoff specialist, scored his second
goal of the season 51 seconds later to build Nashville's lead to
4-1. Left winger Gabriel Bourque fed him with a pass and Gaustad
beat Stalock with a wrist shot.
Neal continued the offensive onslaught when he scored his 20th goal
of the season on a wrist shot from the low slot at 10:31 of the
second period after taking in a nice pass from center Mike Ribeiro.
That gave Neal his seventh consecutive 20-goal season.
San Jose has made the playoffs the past 10 seasons, the NHL's
second-longest streak. The Sharks entered the game holding the
Western Conference's final playoff spot with 23 games left in the
regular season.
San Jose has lost its last five in Nashville.
NOTES: A sellout crowd of 69,000 is expected for San Jose's outdoor
game against the defending Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings on
Saturday at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. ... Nashville G
Pekka Rinne was selected the NHL's third star of the week Monday
after going 3-0 with a .954 save percentage and a 1.30 goals-against
average. ... Sharks D Justin Braun returned to the lineup after
missing 11 games with a broken bone in his left hand. D Matt
Tennyson was sent to Worcester of the AHL to make room for Braun.
... D Cody Franson and RW Mike Santorelli, acquired in Sunday's
trade with Toronto, missed the game because of immigration issues
but are expected to play Thursday. Both players were drafted by the
Predators and played their first two NHL seasons with Nashville:
Franson from 2009-11 and Santorelli from 2008-10. ... Nashville
recalled D Anthony Bitetto from the AHL before the game and placed D
Anton Volchenkov on Injured Reserve.
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