@jayRecher
Who the heck was THAT guy??
Just two days after giving up five goals to the Tampa Bay Lightning, Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne turned back the clock & put together a brilliant performance in Nashville's 4-1 victory over Tampa Bay on Monday at Amalie Arena.
The 2018 Vezina Trophy winner hasn't been the same since winning the award, but he looked the part on Monday stopping 38 of the 39 shots he faced.
The only blemish on Rinne's stat line tonight was a goal by Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, who scored at the 10:03 mark of the third period.
The fans at the arena were treated to some fisticuffs early on as Ben Harpur & Patrick Maroon threw down at the 2:56 mark, but that was all the fireworks in the opening period.
The Predators opened the scoring at the 3:58 mark of the 2nd period when Eeli Tolvanen snapped a shot short-side over the blocker of McElhinney to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Nashville doubled their lead a little over five minutes later when Arvidsson fired a one-timer past the Tampa Bay netminder on the power play & Calle Jarnkrok made it 3-0 when he scored on a shorthanded breakaway about two and a half minutes after that.
The 3rd period started with a bang when Maroon dropped the gloves once again, this time with Mathieu Olivier, but the Stamkos goal was all they could muster.
Mattias Ekholm added an empty-net goal late to seal the deal for Nashville.
Jarnkrok picked up his fourth point of the night with an assist on Ekholm's goal. He was a driving force for the Nashville offense all game long.
McElhinney made 22 saves on 25 shots.
*****
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Period
- NONE
2nd Period
- Nashville - Tolvanen - (Johansen, Jarnkrok) - 3:58
- Nashville - PPG - Arvidsson - (Haula, Jarnkrok) - 9:14
- Nashville - SHG - Jarnkrok - (Ekholm, Rinne) - 11:46
3rd Period
- Tampa Bay - Stamkos - (Gourde, Killorn) - 10:03
- Nashville - ENG - Ekholm - (Fabbro, Jarnkrok) - 19:40
*****
PENALTY SUMMARY
1st Period
- Nashville - MAJOR - Harpur - (Fighting) - 2:56
- Tampa Bay - MAJOR - Maroon - (Fighting) - 2:56
- Tampa Bay - Cernak - (Holding) - 3:51
- Nashville - Johansen - (Holding) - 12:45
2nd Period
- Nashville - Sissons - (Hooking) - 0:22
- Tampa Bay - Gourde - (Holding) - 7:30
- Nashville - TEAM - (Too Many Men) - 11:03
3rd Period
- Nashville - MAJOR - Olivier - (Fighting) - 0:03
- Tampa Bay - MAJOR - Maroon - (Fighting) - 0:03
*****
What's Next For The Bolts : The Lightning are back in action on Tuesday night as they travel to Dallas to take on the Stars. Puck drop is slated for 8:30pm with the pregame show starting at 8:00pm on NewsRadio WFLA.
PHOTO : Getty Images