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Rinne saves 34, Predators top Red Wings

Feb 10, 2011 - 4:59 AM Detroit, MI (Sports Network) - Pekka Rinne stopped 34 shots as Nashville took down Detroit, 4-1, at Joe Louis Arena.

Martin Erat, David Legwand, Colin Wilson and Sergei Kostitsyn tallied for the Predators, who won for just the second time in their last seven games -- with both victories coming against Detroit.

Nashville improved to 3-1 this season against the Central-leading Red Wings and pulled within five points of them in the standings.

"We gotta catch those guys, that's our [motivation] here in the locker room," said Nashville forward Patric Hornqvist.

Ruslan Salei provided the lone offense for the Red Wings, who have dropped three of four.

Jimmy Howard was pulled after yielding four goals on 16 shots in just over 30 minutes. Joey MacDonald finished the game with 14 stops.

Erat opened the scoring a little more than three minutes after the opening faceoff on a wrister from the left circle and Legwand put the Preds up by two at 14:13 when he potted a Ryan Suter rebound.

Nashville went up by a 3-0 count a little over a minute into the second period when Wilson slid his own rebound past Howard at the right post, then gained a four-goal edge just after the midway point on a power play as Kostitsyn tapped in a loose puck.

That chased Howard in favor of MacDonald but the damage was done.

Detroit finally hit the scoreboard with 3:58 left in the second when Salei managed to redirect a Henrik Zetterberg feed home from the left post, but Rinne kept the Red Wings at bay in the third period with 13 saves.

"We had a little push there for a second, but not long enough and not sustained enough and we were good enough," said Detroit head coach Mike Babcock.

Game Notes

Rinne entered the game second in the NHL in goals-against average at 2.11...Salei notched his first goal in 60 games, dating back to March 21 at Anaheim when he played for Colorado.