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Dumont, Rinne help Predators edge Wild

Dec 7, 2008 - 8:54 AM By Jim Diamond PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- J.P. Dumont snapped a scoreless tie with 9:12 remaining in the third period and Pekka Rinne made 32 saves to lead the Nashville Predators to a 1-0 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.

Just three seconds after a penalty to Minnesota defenseman Kim Johnsson expired, Nashville captain Jason Arnott sent a pass from the left wing boards to Dumont in the high slot. Dumont's shot went off the glove of goaltender Josh Harding and into the net for his sixth goal of the season and a 1-0 edge.

"It's a little play that we've worked on," Dumont said. "Everybody thought that he was going to shoot it, but he made a great pass to me in the slot."

Arnott was happy to be able to set up Dumont for a change. Dumont has assisted on 10 of Arnott's team-leading 13 goals this season.

"I figure I owe him a bunch," Arnott said. "He was wide open and he made a great shot, so that was the play to make."

The shutout was the second in three starts for Rinne. With the blanking, he improved to 6-0-0 on the season.

"The guys are doing a great job in front of me," Rinne said. "A shutout is never just the goalie."

The 26-year-old Finn turned aside four shots in the first period, 16 more in the second and 12 in the third to complete his second career shutout.

Rinne, who made his third consecutive start and fourth in five games, expected to have the night off. But No. 1 netminder Dan Ellis was hit on the inside of his left knee with a shot during the team's morning skate and was unable to play.

"They told me this morning that I was going to start, so it was just a routine game day for me," Rinne said.

Ellis' injury is not believed to be serious, but Rinne is expected to start again Monday at St. Louis.

Minnesota has lost consecutive games for just the third time this season and dropped three of its last four contests.

"It's kind of frustrating knowing the game is right there, but I think we can learn a lot from this game," Harding said. "It's all about trying to keep the team in it and giving them a chance to win."

The game was a stark difference in comparison to last week's meeting between the teams here. In that contest, the Wild scored five power-play goals en route to a 6-2 victory.

"The last time we played Minnesota, we gave them a lot of chances on the power play," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "We played them the wrong way last Saturday by being undisciplined and taking too many penalties."

Both teams were 0-for-3 with the man advantage in this one.

The Predators carried the play in the opening period of this one, outshooting the Wild, 18-4. Harding was nearly as impressive as Rinne, making a career-high 42 saves.

"There should be an urgency in our situation right now, and there was not," Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire said. "I thought that our second and third periods were really good, but their goalie was solid and we couldn't get any goals."