PREDATORS 4, RED WINGS 1: Pekka Rinne made 31 saves as visiting Nashville leapfrogged Detroit for fourth place in the Western Conference and secured the 500th victory for both the organization and coach Barry Trotz.
Alexander Radulov secured the win with his second goal at 2:40 of the third period. Andrei Kostitsyn carried the puck behind the net and found a wide open Radulov in front to give Nashville a 3-0 lead.
Captain Shea Weber added his 17th goal with an empty-net tally.
Rinne, who had his shutout bid spoiled by Jiri Hudler late in the third period, was stellar throughout the contest - but his biggest save came in the second period.
With Nashville nursing a one-goal lead and Detroit on the power play, Rinne stretched out his arm and got his glove in front of Henrik Zetterberg's shot from in close. Zetterberg looked skyward after Rinne took what appeared to be an open net away from him.
Rookie Gabriel Bourque opened the scoring at 13:05 of the second period with his sixth goal when he snapped a shot from the top of the slot past Jimmy Howard.
Francis Bouillon netted his third goal with 33 seconds remaining in the middle frame when he pulled the puck from heavy traffic in the slot and fired the puck past a helpless Howard.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Defenseman Kyle Quincey, who was a deadline acquisition for Detroit, was a healthy scratch. ... Radulov, who has led the Predators in ice-time in three of his five games, has five points in as many contests since returning from the Kontinental Hockey League. ... Both teams won three games in the season series. ... Detroit was 0-for-3 on the power play, while Nashville was 0-for-2.
Nashville | Detroit | |
Alexander Radulov 2 | Points | Jiri Hudler 1 |
Alexander Radulov 1 | Goals | Jiri Hudler 1 |
Alexander Radulov 1 | Assists | Jonathan Ericsson 1 |
N/A | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Pekka Rinne .969 | Save Percentage | Jimmy Howard .885 |
Pekka Rinne 31 | Saves | Jimmy Howard 23 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Nashville | 27 | 4 | 0-2 | 3-3 | 6 | 27 |
Detroit | 32 | 1 | 0-3 | 2-2 | 4 | 36 |