San Jose Sharks Stoned By Pekka Rinne Yet Again
The San Jose Sharks and Nashville netminder Pekka Rinne are not a good combination. Rinne continued his sparkling play against the Sharks on Wednesday night as he led the Predators to a hard-fought, 2-1 victory over San Jose.
Rinne has owned the Sharks throughout his career, posting some of his best numbers against San Jose. According to Hockey-Reference, Rinne has a .946 save percentage and a 1.79 goals-against-average in 19 career games played. While he wasn’t overly busy, Rinne made a couple of huge saves, including robbing Justin Braun with a spectacular glove save to preserve the 2-1 win for his team.
It was a battle from start to finish in this one as there was very little room on the ice to make any plays on either side. Unfortunately for the Sharks and their fans, it was the Predators who found the one bit of space needed to secure two points at SAP Center. Midway through the third period, San Jose appeared to have an odd-man situation developing.
However, Tommy Wingels turned the puck over right at the Nashville blue line and a great head-man pass from Seth Jones sprung Calle Jarnkrok in on a two-on-one against Martin Jones. Matt Tennyson actually played the situation pretty well, forcing Jarnkrok to shoot, but his shot ramped up off of Tennyson’s stick into the top corner for the game-winner.
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The story of the game was Rinne and the Nashville defense which limited San Jose’s opportunities on this night. The Predators are tied for the third in the league, allowing just 1.89 goals per game and their mobile defense and strong goaltending are a big reason why. Both were on display tonight, holding the Sharks to just 20 shots on goal including four in the middle frame.
Nashville thrives off an early lead and imposing their defensive will throughout the game, and the same storyline played out in this one. Eric Nystrom scored 3:22 into the first period as he snuck a quick shot by Jones on the short side. The Predators have now scored the first goal in eight of their nine games, and it put the Sharks behind the eight-ball from the the get-go.
Following a pretty boring second period, San Jose tied the game behind the persistence of Joe Pavelski. After being cross-checked to the ice in front, Pavelski deposited a rebound past Rinne for his fourth goal of the season. Unfortunately, one of the few Sharks’ mistakes on this night came back to bite them as San Jose lost for the fourth time in five games.
It was a solid effort from the Sharks, but not quite good enough to secure the two points. Once again, San Jose was let down by its power play which went 0-for-2 on this night, dropping to 3-for-27 on the year or just 11.1 percent.
The Sharks need to regroup as they face a difficult back-to-back over the weekend, beginning against the red-hot Dallas Stars and their potent offense.
Next: Sharks Have Opportunity To Reestablish Identity