• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Arnott leads offensive outburst as Predators trouce Wings

Mar 1, 2009 - 5:33 AM NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- The Nashville Predators are back in the Western Conference playoff race. In their latest outing, they convincingly proved they belong in it.

Captain Jason Arnott recorded a hat trick and Steve Sullivan and J.P. Dumont notched three assists apiece as the Predators cruised to an 8-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday.

All-Star defenseman Shea Weber and Joel Ward each scored a goal and set up another while Ville Koistinen, David Legwand and Antti Pihlstrom tallied for Nashville, which used a five-goal first period to extend its winning streak to four games.

"I was really proud of the way that we've stayed disciplined," Predators coach Barry Trotz said. "That's been our Achilles heel when it comes to playing Detroit."

Rookie Pekka Rinne made 30 saves to secure his sixth shutout of the season. The starter for the Rookies in the YoungStars Game as part of the festivities during All-Star Weekend last month, Rinne turned aside 11 shots in the first period, 14 in the second and five in the third.

The 26-year-old Finn, who has surrendered just four total goals in the Predators' current run, registered a 1-0 shutout over the St. Louis Blues three games ago.

"We just executed really well," Rinne said. "We were really well prepared. We really wanted these two points. It's how we have been playing for a while. Obviously we got some lucky bounces, but sometimes those things happen and we're pretty happy it happened against Detroit."

Ty Conklin surrendered four goals on nine shots in the opening 9 minutes, 51 seconds of play before being relieved for Chris Osgood, who denied 10 of the 14 attempts he faced for Detroit.

The Red Wings, who did not have a power-play opportunity until midway through the third period, had won two in a row and four of five. They last surrendered eight goals on March 21, 2004, when they fell, 8-6, to the Anaheim Ducks.

"I think it's the worst loss I've had since I've been in the National Hockey League," Detroit coach Mike Babcock said. "The puck went in the net for them, and we made some big time mistakes. We were basically done 10 minutes into the game tonight.

"We have to do a better job of getting focused. Things didn't go the way we wanted them to go, and we got humbled to say the least."

Nashville has scored 17 goals in its last three games after totaling three over its previous three. With this triumph, the Predators sit in eighth place in the crowded West with 66 points.

"It's one game," Weber said. "We got some fortunate bounces that maybe we shouldn't have or haven't gotten in many other games. It is something we have to look past. We can enjoy it for 20 minutes or so, but we have to look forward to Tuesday."

Koistinen opened the scoring at 4:48 of the first and Legwand netted his 17th goal of the season 29 seconds later. Ward gave the Predators a 3-0 lead at 9:24 of the session and Pihlstrom tallied 27 seconds later, prompting Babcock to pull Conklin.

"We fired a lot of shots at the start and just stuck with it," Ward said. "Our game play was to come out fast and create some chances when we can."

Arnott capped the first-period outburst 57 seconds after Pihlstrom struck, firing a wrist shot over Osgood while stationed on the doorstep. The last time Nashville had scored five goals in a period was January 5, 2007.

"You learn from it for sure," Conklin said. "I think the score speaks to how well we didn't play. I don't think there are too many guys in here that feel well about their game. This is the one if you have a short memory, it will help you out a lot."

With 5:47 remaining in the second, Arnott used a backhander on the power play to balloon the advantage to 6-0.

"He's been one of those guys who has been an offensive catalyst for us," Trotz said. "He has an offensively minded eye sometimes."

"We got five goals in the first (10) minutes. We knew in the second period that they were going to come out and push. I thought we defended well against their push and we were able to get a goal."

Weber scored with a slap shot from the high slot at 8:45 of the third, and Arnott completed his hat trick with his 26th tally of the season by lifting a wrister into the vacant net with 6:44 left.

"It's always nice to get a hat trick in a game, especially against Detroit," Arnott said. "You don't get too many goals against them. It's always special when you get three."