• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Rinne, Predators host Ducks seeking third straight win

Feb 5, 2009 - 11:23 AM Anaheim (26-23-5) at Nashville (23-24-3), 8:00 p.m. EST

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- The Anaheim Ducks are currently dealing with a goaltender controversy between All-Star Jean Sebastien Giguere and Jonas Hiller.

Thanks to the sparkling play of rookie Pekka Rinne, the Nashville Predators have no such problem and hope to notch their third straight victory when they host the Ducks on Thursday.

Since relieving Dan Ellis in a 7-2 drubbing at the hands of the lowly Atlanta Thrashers on January 17, Rinne is 3-2-0 with a 2.03 goals-against average. The Finn has also allowed two or fewer tallies in 14 of his last 20 contests.

Rinne, who started for the Rookies in the YoungStars Game as part of the All-Star Weekend, made 30 saves in a 2-1 win over the Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday, and turned aside 33 shots in a victory that featured the same score over the Edmonton Oilers two nights earlier.

Nashville, which is 13-9-1 at home, has won three of its last four overall.

Meanwhile, the Ducks continue to ride the stellar work of Hiller, while the ineffective Giguere has not played since giving up two goals in 14 minutes of a 2-1 loss to the New York Islanders on January 21.

Hiller started his fifth consecutive contest and turned aside 22 shots in Anaheim's 3-0 setback to the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday.