Rinne, Predators shut out Flyers

PHILADELPHIA -- Pekka Rinne made 28 saves, and Colton Sissons scored in the third period to lift the Nashville Predators to a 1-0 win against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on Thursday.
The Predators (4-2-1) have at least a point in five straight games (4-0-1). It was Rinne's first shutout of the season and Nashville's first road win (1-2-1).

WATCH: [All Predators vs. Flyers highlights]
"Any time a goalie gets a shutout it's a compliment to his teammates," Rinne said. "I was able to see the puck for the most part, make the first save. Lot of time, guys were bailing me out. At the beginning of the game, they had a lot of good chances."
In his past four games, Rinne has allowed four goals on 115 shots (.965 save percentage). In his first two games, he allowed eight goals on 61 shots (.869 save percentage).
"Amazing," Sissons said of Rinne. "Simply amazing, that's all I can say."
Rinne said it's more than just him playing better.
"I think after the first two, three games I think that was the ongoing main thing, the play as a team, make good decisions," he said. "I think by no means are we a defensive team. We play a fast game and try to play up and down the ice. As a five-man unit, not get separated too much, things like that, that's been our focus. Try to find that speed that we have. First few games, we weren't able to generate that for some reason."

They generated that speed on the game's only goal. Forward Kevin Fiala pulled the puck out of traffic in front of the Predators net and broke out of the zone. He got into the high slot and chipped a pass to Sissons, who put Nashville ahead 1-0 with his second goal.
"I got a step on [Flyers defenseman Andrew MacDonald] and Fiala made a beautiful saucer pass right onto my blade and I put it where I wanted it," Sissons said.
It was the second time the Predators defeated the Flyers in 10 days, following a 6-5 victory in Nashville on Oct. 10. Sissons didn't play in that game because of a lower-body injury.
Michal Neuvirth made 23 saves for the Flyers (4-3-0), who lost for the first time in three games. They went 0-for-5 on the power play, including one in the final 1:06 of the third period when the Predators held them without a shot on goal.
"We did a lot of good things," Philadelphia captain Claude Giroux said. "It was that kind of game. You kind of get frustrated because you're doing all the good things, you're playing the right way, you're just not getting rewarded."

Goal of the game

Sissons scored off a pass from Fiala on a 2-on-1 rush, beating Neuvirth with a shot to the far side between the goalie's right arm and body.

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Save of the game

Giroux had a wraparound attempt on the left post at 14:57 of the third period, but Rinne pushed over and got his right skate against the post to make the save.

Highlight of the game

Flyers center Sean Couturier dragged the puck around Predators defenseman Roman Josi and got a low shot on goal that Rinne saw late but was able to swat away with his glove with 3:58 remaining.

They said it

"It was tight out there. Felt like there were some orange sweaters around us whenever we got the puck. It was a battle back and forth. Just happy to capitalize on the opportunity there." -- Predators forward Colton Sissons, who scored the game's only goal
"We had good chances in the third period, two or three good chances before they scored their first goal. We had at least six or seven, maybe more, after it was a one-goal game. Made good plays in the third, had scoring chances from good areas. We just couldn't execute to get one past [Predators goalie Pekka Rinne]." -- Flyers coach Dave Hakstol

Need to know

Rinne's shutout was the 44th of his NHL career, tying Miikka Kiprusoff for most by a Finland-born goalie in League history. ... Predators forward Filip Forsberg had his four-game point streak come to an end. He had eight points (four goals, four assists) during the streak. … Flyers forward Dale Weise played his 400th NHL game. … Philadelphia forward Wayne Simmonds missed some time when he was hit in the face by Predators defenseman Mattias Ekholm's stick while sitting on the bench with 3:21 remaining in the second period. He returned for the third. … Flyers defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere played an NHL career-high 25:23.

What's next

Predators: At the New York Rangers on Saturday (12:30 p.m. ET; SN, MSG, FS-TN, NHL.TV)
Flyers: Host the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; NBCSP, SNW, NHL.TV)