Pekka Rinne was the best player on the ice Friday night. It wasn't even close.
Really, I think the expression that a goaltender "stole" a game is kind of weird. He's part of the team. You probably wouldn't say that Connor McDavid "stole" a game for his team even if he's the only Oiler actually doing anything out there. But there was definitely some larceny involved in Rinne's performance as the Predators defeated the Penguins 3-1 at PPG Paints Arena on Friday.
Rinne was named the No. 1 star of the game for stopping 42 of the Penguins' 43 shots. It was Nick Bjugstad who finally solved Rinne with 1:03 left in the game, spoiling the shutout bid.
The Penguins dominated in shot production through most of the game. After getting off to a slow start and getting outshot 6-2 through the first seven minutes of the game, the Penguins went on a tear, outshooting the Predators 20-5 over the remainder of the first period. Rinne was put to work early and was locked in. He made this stop on Garrett Wilson, who had a close call on his own rebound chance:
Rinne stopped every puck the Penguins threw his way in the first period, and Craig Smith's goal 1:35 into the game put the Penguins in an early hole.
"They were shooting a lot of pucks in the first period," said Rinne after the game. "They shot every chance they had, and obviously that helps you get going, seeing the puck and starting to feel it. It just continued like that all night, I thought we played strong periods in the second and third."
While the Penguins ultimately outshot the Predators 43-26, they didn't dominate possession at even-strength as much as that number would lead you to believe. 15 of the Penguins' shots came during four power play opportunities. Rinne kept all 15 out of the net, and Viktor Arvidsson extended the Predators' lead to 2-0 in the second period with a power play goal for the Predators.
During five-on-five play, the game was actually pretty tight defensively ... for the Predators. There was 46:50 of five-on-five time in the game, and the Predators attempted 45 shots to the Penguins' 32. Of those attempts, the Predators recorded 23 that could actually be considered scoring chances, compared to the Penguins' 14. Nine of the Predators scoring chances came from the close-range, high-danger areas of the ice, nearly twice as many as the Penguins' five.
"I think we did some things to give ourselves a chance to win, but we didn't finish," said Sidney Crosby. "Special teams ends up being a big difference. We got some power play looks we didn't take advantage of, and they take advantage on theirs."
That difference is pretty clear when you look at the heat maps. This map shows all shot attempts in the game, at all strengths:
That's a lot of attempts for the Penguins, with a pretty high density of attempts around the slot. Now, when you look at the heat map for only five-on-five play? Different story:
"We were really good 5-on-5," said Predators coach Peter Laviolette. "I thought special teams did a really good job, just in the sense that we were able to keep them off the board on the power play. ... I thought 5-on-5 we were pretty good. It was a good hockey game."
It was the Predators' dominance at five-on-five that really won them the game, but it was Rinne's work in bailing his team out while shorthanded that kept the Penguins from having any chance to even get in the game.
"He was really good," Laviolette said of Rinne. "When you throw in the 15 shots on the power play, 15 power play chances, and then some big ones as well on the five-on-five, I thought he was terrific."
Rinne's win was his first career victory in Pittsburgh -- regular season and playoffs -- after a lot of poor performances in this building. Before Friday night, Rinne had a career record of 0-6, a 5.14 goals-against average, and an .822 save percentage at PPG Paints Arena.
"Those kinds of things, you kind of recognize them and it's in the back of your head," said Rinne of his past struggles in Pittsburgh. "But at the same time, it's always a great challenge and I love to come here and play."
42 saves and a huge win for his team probably made the latest trip to Pittsburgh a little more enjoyable for Rinne.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THREE STARS
My curtain calls go to …
1. Pekka Rinne
Predators goaltender
42 saves on 43 shots, you have to give it to him.
2. Viktor Arvidsson
Predators right winger
The game-winning goal, led all Predators with five shots.
3. Craig Smith
Predators right winger
The opening goal of the game and the primary assist on P.K. Subban's third-period goal.
THE GOOD
Olli Maatta was strong in his return to the lineup after missing 21 games with an upper-body injury.
On the top pairing alongside Brian Dumoulin, Maatta led the Penguins with seven attempted shots and recorded three hits through 15:46 of ice time. He had this takeaway in the second period to prevent a Predators chance from developing:
"It took a couple of shifts to get my head into it, but after that it felt okay," Maatta said after the game.
Sullivan was also pleased with Maatta's performance in his return.
"I thought Olli played pretty well for not having played in awhile," said Sullivan. "He had some quality shots, he was pretty good on that second power play."
THE BAD
Justin Schultz had a bad game.
During five-on-five, Schultz was on the ice for just eight attempts-for and 23 attempts-against in 18:55 of ice time. He led the team with five giveaways -- three at even strength, and two on the power play. So, here's a look at all five.
His first turnover came early into the second period in the defensive zone. He tried dropping the puck back to Jack Johnson ... except Johnson wasn't there, Ryan Johansen was. Johansen fed the puck to Arvidsson, who was able to get off a pretty good scoring chance:
A minute later, he did pretty much the same thing and dropped the puck right into the lap of a Predator. This time, it was on a power play:
His next three turnovers all came in the third period, starting with this one in the neutral zone:
A minute later, Schultz coughed the puck up at the blue line, leading to a shorthanded breakaway chance for Arvidsson:
Finally, Schultz turned the puck over in the defensive zone with 4:27 remaining in the game:
Schultz's Corsi For percentage was 26.37 percent lower than the average of his teammates when he was not on the ice -- which is a direct reflection of the "eye test" you see above. Your team isn't generating chances while you're turning over the puck that much, and the opposition is going to generate a fair amount when gifted the puck in their offensive zone. Math.
THE OTHER SIDE
The win moved the Predators into a tie with the Jets for first place in the Central Division, with 94 points each. The Jets have a game in hand (and another win) so the Jets have the tiebreaker.
Of the Predators four remaining games, three are at home and one is on the road. Only two are against "quality" teams, or teams that have more points than games played. The team the Predators are chasing, the Jets, have a tougher schedule to close out the season. The Jets only have one home game left, and four on the road. All five are against quality teams.
The Predators' win in Pittsburgh was huge not only for the push for the division title, but in preparing the team for the playoffs.
"(The Penguins) are obviously one of the top teams," Rinne said of the win. "It's a good game to have for us at this point of the season; there's only a few games left before the playoffs. I feel like every game from now on is going to be like this, it's going to be very tight and playoff-like."
Friday's win was the first game in a back-to-back pair of games for the Predators. They'll be back in action with a game against Columbus in Nashville Saturday night.
THE DATA
• Wilson led the team with seven hits.
• In the first period, the Penguins outshot the Predators 22-11. But at 5-on-5, the Predators attempted 22 shots, three more than the Penguins' 19 attempts.
• The Penguins are now 15-14-4 when the opponent scores first.
• Saturday was Jake Guentzel's 200th career NHL game.
• Matt Cullen moved to two games from tying Steve Yzerman for 19th place all-time on the games-played list at 1514 games.
THE INJURIES
• Kris Letang, defenseman, missed his second game with a new upper-body injury. He is day-day, according to Sullivan.
• Evgeni Malkin, center, missed his sixth game with an apparent rib injury and is expected to miss another week or so. He’s been skating on his own back at the Lemieux Complex but did not take the ice on Monday, according to Sullivan.
• Zach Aston-Reese, forward, missed his ninth game with a hip injury and is considered to be out longer-term.
• Chad Ruhwedel, defenseman, missed his 15th game with an upper-body injury and is also considered to be out longer-term. He is skating on his own.
THE LINEUPS
Sullivan’s lines and pairings:
Guentzel -- Crosby -- Rust
McCann -- Blueger -- Kessel
Simon -- Bjugstad -- Hornqvist
Johnson -- Cullen -- Wilson
Maatta -- Dumoulin
Johnson -- Schultz
Pettersson -- Gudbranson
• And for Laviolette's Predators:
Forsberg -- Johansen -- Arvidsson
Sissons -- Turris -- Granlund
Jarnkrok -- Bonino -- Smith
Boyle -- Gaudreau -- Simmonds
Josi -- Ellis
Ekholm -- Subban
Irwin -- Weber
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will practice today at noon in Cranberry. Bradford will have your coverage. The Penguins will return to game action Sunday when they host the Carolina Hurricanes at 5:08 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena. Dejan, Sunday, and I will take that one.
THE COVERAGE
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MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins vs. Predators, PPG Paints Arena, March 29, 2019 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS