Rinne makes 30 saves, Predators shut out Hurricanes

NASHVILLE --Pekka Rinne made 30 saves for his second shutout of the season for the Nashville Predators in a 5-0 win against the Carolina Hurricanes at Bridgestone Arena on Monday.

Rinne, starting for the first time since April 10, got his 369th NHL win to tie Tom Barrasso for 19th place in NHL history. His 60 NHL shutouts also are 19th.
"Overwhelming, I guess is the right word," said Rinne, who has played his entire NHL career with Nashville but is in the final season of a two-year contract. "Pretty special. I don't know if I can find the right words for how much I appreciate our fans. My relationship with the fans, this city, it means the world to me. I never want it to be about me. This team is going to the playoffs and we have big things ahead, but I truly, truly, appreciate what happened tonight, and it goes very high on my personal list and my experiences in hockey."
Matt Duchene scored two goals, and Tanner Jeannot and Ryan Johansen each had a goal and an assist for the Predators (31-23-2), who swept the two-game set to end the regular season.
"Goals are one thing, but I think our process has been good," Duchene said. "Everyone is committed to playing hard. We're a four-line team and we roll four and everyone is expected to play the same way and has the same criteria. I think that's an adjustment for a lot of us, but a lot of guys are making that commitment. The last two games speak volumes."

Carolina finished first and Nashville fourth in the eight-team Discover Central Division. The teams will play each other in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Petr Mrazek made 22 saves for the Hurricanes (36-12-8), who lost 3-1 here Saturday.
"We're putting that game behind us," Carolina forward Max McCormick said. "We're moving forward and looking ahead to Game 1. We're just going to head back home and regroup and get ready for the playoffs."
Rocco Grimaldi gave the Predators a 1-0 lead at 2:51 of the first period with a shorthanded breakaway.
Duchene made it 2-0 at 4:29 on a forehand-to-backhand move in the slot.
Duchene extended the lead to 3-0 at 4:19 of the second period on a rebound of a pass attempt from Nick Cousins that went off Predators forward Brad Richardson.
"It's been a weird stretch almost since I got here in terms of weird bounces," Duchene said. "That one in the second for the hat trick was kind of more par for the course than the first two. It was good to put a couple in.
"It's been a tough year for me in terms of being hurt. At times you don't feel like you're a part of it when you're hurt, and you come back and it's like jumping on a moving train. It's good to feel good going in [to the playoffs]. For me, I'm just focusing on doing the little things and playing the way that this team wants to play."
Johansen made it 4-0 at 12:08 on a power play on a pass from behind the net by Filip Forsberg.

Jeannot scored shorthanded 57 seconds into the third period for the 5-0 final.
Forwards Andrei Svechnikov and Jordan Staal, and defensemen Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce were healthy scratches for Carolina.
"We're going to flush it," Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour said. "I think we played 56 games. In 55 games we were in every one. In some of the losses, we were in every one of those, and then this is the one game the whole year that we weren't in, so it's kind of flushed for me, to be honest with you. I mean, obviously, we're going to look at it and pick some things system-wise from the game, but overall we're just going to move on."
The Predators scratched defensemen Roman Josi, Ryan Ellis, Mattias Ekholm and Alexandre Carrier, and forwards Colton Sissons, Luke Kunin, Mikael Granlund, Calle Jarnkrok and Erik Haula.
NOTES: The Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning will meet in the other playoff series in the Central. ... Rinne is 369-213-75 in 683 NHL games (667 starts) in 15 seasons with the Predators, who selected him in the eighth round (No. 258) of the 2004 NHL Draft. ... Hurricanes defenseman Joey Keane had one shot on goal and was minus-1 in 19:34 of ice time in his NHL debut. … Carolina forward Jordan Martinook was minus-2 with seven hits in 17:10 after missing nine games with a lower-body injury. … Hurricanes forward Warren Foegele played his 200th NHL game. … Carolina won the season series 6-2-0. Nashville was 2-5-1.