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"It's a big honor," said Rinne, who turned aside 22 shots in
leading the Predators to their third straight win to start the
season, a 3-1 decision over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday
night at the Prudential Center.
"Tomas Vokoun was a great goaltender and had a long career here.
When I first came here, he was someone I looked up to, so it's
fitting that I could pass him. I just hope there's a lot more
games left in me to have here."
Rinne, who will turn 33 in a few weeks, wasn't seriously tested
in the 384th game of his NHL career, all with Nashville. He
allowed a power-play goal to right winger Kyle Palmieri with
1:40 left, ending his bid for a second consecutive shutout.
"You never want to give up a goal, especially late, but I'm
extremely happy to get the win," Rinne said. "It's really big to
get off to a good start once again. We have to be prepared for
every single game, and we've done that so far. It's the sign of
a good team, and we have a good team."
Defenseman Roman Josi scored two goals, one on a first-period
power play and the other on an empty-netter with less than three
minutes left, to pace the Predators, who are off to their best
start in a decade.
"I saw it was open," Josi said of the empty-net goal, on which
his shot carried the length of the ice. "There was no one in
front of me, so I thought I'd go for it. I don't think I've
scored a goal from that far before."
Josi's long goal made it 2-0. Palmieri then sliced the lead to
2-1 with his first goal as a member of the Devils, but Predators
left winger Eric Nystrom sealed the deal with his own empty-net
goal with 52 seconds left.
Josi credited the play of his net-minder.
"He's been great so far this year, like he was great last year,"
Josi said. "It gives us extra confidence as a defensive unit,
knowing he's back there and stopping everything. He's always
there to make the save."
In turn, Rinne credited his fine defensive corps.
"We are so fortunate to have so many good defensemen," Rinne
said. "They also create a lot of offense as well, but they block
shots, they control the game, they have good sticks. They know
how to come back and help out. We are comfortable together and
have a lot of confidence together. Overall, it's great to have
that much talent."
The Devils got solid play from goalie Keith Kinkaid, who started
for the second straight game as regular goalie Cory Schneider
went home for the birth of his son. Kinkaid was solid, stopping
17 of 18 shots.
"The first goal, I should have had that one," Kinkaid said of
Josi's first-period, power-play tally. "I am always hard on
myself, but I let that one go. I just had to make sure to keep
us there. We just couldn't get the bounce on Rinne. He's tough
to beat."
The Devils dropped to 0-3-0 for only the second time in team
history. They went 0-4-0 to start the 2001-02 season.
NOTES: Devils G Cory Schneider was not with the team Tuesday
night. He returned home to be with his wife, who gave birth to a
baby boy. Schneider, the busiest goalie in the NHL last season
with 69 starts, should be back in New Jersey in time for the
game Friday against the San Jose Sharks. Keith Kinkaid started
in Schneider's place. Kinkaid was in goal Saturday night for the
Devils' 5-3 loss to Washington. The Devils called up G Yann
Danis in an emergency status to serve as Kinkaid's backup. ...
The Devils assigned LW Reid Boucher to AHL Albany. Boucher made
the team out of training camp but did not see action in either
of the team's first two games. ... The Predators feasted on
Eastern Conference teams last season, posting a 20-10-2 record.
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