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Rinne shines as Predators edge Oilers

Feb 1, 2009 - 11:14 PM EDMONTON, Alberta (Ticker) -- Rookie goaltender Pekka Rinne proved he is a morning person.

Playing in his first career afternoon game, Rinne made 32 saves and preserved an early lead as the Nashville Predators posted a 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.

J.P. Dumont and Martin Erat each tallied for the Predators, who had lost four of five and improved to 3-8-1 on the road since a 6-3 setback against the St. Louis Blues on December 8.

"It's my first NHL afternoon game," said Rinne, who also claimed his woke up at 7:30 a.m. "It's a little different, but I guess I like it. I felt good, everybody, I felt like everybody liked it. It's kind of different, you get up early and have a little practice and come to the rink and play the game. After that you have the whole day, you're done.

"It's pretty nice - especially when you win."

Ales Hemsky scored a third-period goal for Edmonton, which lost for just the second time in six contests.

"We really have to work on being more consistent," Oilers defenseman Tom Gilbert said. "We don't want to fall back into the habit of winning one, losing one; going back and forth when you are trying to catch teams for a playoff run. We have to get back on the same page again."

Dwayne Roloson, who finished with 27 saves for Edmonton, entered with a 2.53 goals-against average in winning eight of his last 11 home starts. His struggles against Nashville continued, though, by falling to 3-12-0 in 17 career matchups with the Predators.

"Everyone is professional enough to get themselves ready," Oilers center Kyle Brodziak said. "For some reason, we just didn't do a good job of that today. It was a game we had to have and we blew it."

The starter for the Rookies in the YoungStars Game as part of All-Star Weekend in Montreal, the 26-year-old Rinne did most of his work in the first 40 minutes of play by stopping all 24 attempts he faced.

Rinne had surrendered three goals or more in four of his previous five outings, and last gave up fewer than two goals in a 2-0 triumph over the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 13.

"He has been really solid for us," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "I thought our penalty killers did a really good job. I've been watching our penalty kill the last little while and it's been really dangerous. I thought our penalty kill was huge for us at the end of the game."

Dumont opened the scoring with 7:56 remaining in the middle session, firing a wrist shot past Roloson from the right faceoff circle.

Erat doubled the advantage 8:35 into the third by converting passes from David Legwand and Ryan Jones with a backhander in front of the net.

Hemsky cut the deficit in half 64 seconds later when he blasted a slap shot from the left circle to notch his 16th tally of the season.

The 25-year-old has six goals and two assists in five contests since returning from a 10-game absence due to a concussion.

"A big win, we got a little nervous at the end," Trotz said. "We could have gone up 3-1, we had a chance but Marty Erat missed (the empty-netter) from center ice, that would have been a lot nicer, but we got the two points, bottom line and that's what we came for."

Edmonton concludes its six-game homestand on Tuesday against the Chicago Blackhawks and then embarks on a three-game road trip.

"We have to take the responsibility of taking care of our own business," Oilers coach Craig MacTavish said. "We haven't done that for a few years here. When you have a game like that where you can drive the nail in, you have to get that game. One thing you want to show in a game like that is the intensity."