Rinne, Forsberg propel Predators past Red Wings

DETROIT -- Pekka Rinne made 24 saves, and Filip Forsberg had a goal and an assist for the Nashville Predators in a 2-0 win against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on Tuesday.

It was Rinne's first shutout since Nov. 29, 2019; the 38-year-old made 11 saves in the third period.
Rinne made 21 saves in a 4-2 win at the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday; he and Predators goalie Juuse Saros have each started nine games this season.
"I've been fortunate enough for most of my career to be a No. 1 goalie," Rinne said. "I try to prepare the same way; it doesn't matter what the situation this year was. I didn't really have too many expectations I guess, but at the same time, you always want to play. It's a healthy competition. I consider myself lucky to play with Juuse. He's coming to his prime, and obviously I'm in a different situation. But I love to compete.
"I've said it earlier, who knows if this is my last year. I'm just trying really to take it all in and give everything I have. It's been fun lately, getting to play a little bit more."
Eeli Tolvanen scored for the Predators (8-10-0), who were 2-for-4 on the power play. Roman Josi had two assists.
"It's nice to see us string some games together where we play more to the identity we want," Nashville coach John Hynes said. "That's something we can build on in practice and get ready for the next game."

Jonathan Bernier made 31 saves for the Red Wings (5-13-3), who have lost 14 of their past 17 games.
"I thought our battle level was about 80 percent, and if we're not close to 100 percent, we're not giving ourselves chances to win games," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. "There are teams in this league that can be at 80 or 85 percent and win games because they score so easily. We're not that kind of team."
The Red Wings, who were shut out for the second time in four games, have gone 13 games without a power-play goal. They were 0-for-1 with the man-advantage.
Detroit will host Nashville again Thursday.
"In this league, it is so important to score goals on the power play because it is so hard to score 5-on-5," Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said. "We took a couple penalties in the third period and they scored, but you can't win hockey games without generating offense. We have to find ways to score goals."
The Predators appeared to take the lead when Forsberg scored at 16:54 of the second period, but the Red Wings successfully challenged for goalie interference.
Forsberg did give Nashville a 1-0 lead on a power play when his shot deflected off Red Wings defenseman Marc Staal for a power-play goal at 4:36 of the third period.

Tolvanen made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 9:58 when he took a cross-ice pass from Forsberg and scored from the left face-off circle.
"I thought this was a great game," Tolvanen said. "We worked hard for all three periods, our power play was good, the penalty killers did their job and Rinne] was a wall."
**NOTES:**Rinne tied
[Evgeni Nabokov
for 19th in NHL history with his 59th shutout, passing
John Ross Roach
. ... Predators center Ryan Johansen returned from an upper-body injury and had one shot on goal in 15:48 of ice time. It was his first game since Feb. 4. … Forsberg has four goals and six assists in a six-game point streak against the Red Wings. … Detroit's power-play drought matches the longest in the NHL since the Ottawa Senators went 14 games without a goal from March 3-31, 2016. The Calgary Flames also had a 13-game drought from March 9-April 5, 2018.