The highly anticipated return of Nashville Predator goalie Pekka Rinne occurred on Tuesday night. Almost immediately the highly talented offensive force of the Pittsburgh Penguins were testing Rinne who has been sidelined since October 22, 2014 with a hip issue. Rinne looked sharp throughout the game for someone who has been sidelined for several months. Only 27 seconds into the 2nd period, Matt Niskanen opened up the scoring for the Penguins with a beautiful slapshot that sailed past Rinne. It only took 12 seconds for the Preds to tally though as Hornqvist planted himself in front of the net and was able to wrist one past Fleury. The Nashville Predators were able to maintain the pace with the eastern conference leading Penguins until late in the third period. At 7:29 in the third period, Niskanen was able to slap another goal home against Rinne. At about the 17:00 mark of the game, Crosby tripped up Roman Josi and the Penguins were again able to capitalize. Kunitz got his 28th of the year and the Penguins knocked off the Preds with a 3-1 victory. Rinne finishes the first game back with a save percentage of .842. He had 16 saves on 19 shots.
My Gold Stars:
- 3rd Star: Pekka Rinne
- 2nd Star: Sidney Crosby
- 1st Star: Matt Niskanen
Wild Card Playoff Race (Updated 3/5/14 12:40am)
- 75pts. Minnesota Wild
- 68pts. Dallas Stars
- 67pts. Phoenix Coyotes
- 67pts. Winnipeg Jets
- 66pts. Vancouver Canucks
- 62pts. Nashville Predators
- 53pts. Calgary Flames
- 50pts. Edmonton Oilers
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