Rinne, Johansen lift Predators past Jets

WINNIPEG -- Goaltender Pekka Rinne made 26 saves to help the Nashville Predators to a 4-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets at MTS Centre on Thursday.
The Predators (21-18-8) moved five points ahead of the Jets (21-23-3) in the Central Division. Nashville moved to within one point of the Colorado Avalanche for fifth place.

"It was a great team win, and a good way to start off what is going to be a tough road trip," Predators forward James Neal said. "It was a huge win.
"It just seems to be a battle every time we play [Winnipeg]. They're huge points, and they're [Stanley Cup] Playoff-like games. [Each team] is fighting for its playoff lives, so you've got to do everything you can to grab a point, grab two."
Rinne allowed three or more goals in eight of nine games entering Thursday. The win started a four-game road trip for the Predators, who will visit the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday. They were on a 1-5-1 slide entering the game.
"Hard work, especially on the road," Rinne said. "I know it sounds [very] simple, but it's just the way it is. It's really the simple things, but I think that's what it comes down to when you win on the road."
The Jets have one win in their first five games of nine of 10 at home. They played without injured forwards Alexander Burmistrov, Adam Lowry, Mark Scheifele and Drew Stafford.
"Clearly we're in a tough spot here now the losses that are mounting here at home," Jets coach Paul Maurice said.
Neal, Ryan Johansen, Craig Smith and Calle Jarnkrok scored for Nashville. Nikolaj Ehlers scored for Winnipeg.
"I thought our specialty teams was the difference," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "The execution on our penalty kill (4-for-4) was really good. Our power play (1-for-3) was good."
Connor Hellebuyck made 24 saves for the Jets, starting for the 17th time in the past 19 games.
Joel Armia's stretch pass to Ehlers set up a breakaway that gave the Jets a 1-0 lead 4:16 into the game. The goal was his third in the past five games and ninth of the season.
Johansen's power-play goal with 3:21 left in the first period tied the game 1-1. Anthony Peluso's kneeing minor put the Predators' ninth-ranked power play to work, and Johansen stuffed his ninth goal past Hellebuyck. He has eight points (three goals, five assists) in seven games since arriving in a trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Jan. 6.
Smith's 10th goal made it 2-1 at 5:04 of the second period; he took a pass from Petter Granberg and snapped a rising left-circle shot past Hellebuyck. The goal ended Smith's eight-game goalless drought and the assist was Granberg's first NHL point in his 10th game.
The Predators stalled the Jets inside the neutral zone and Winnipeg struggled to maintain a strong offensive push in the third period.
"We wanted to be as tight as we could in the neutral zone and give them nothing, get in on the forecheck," Neal said. "I think we played one of our best third periods as a team."
Neal's 17th goal with 1:52 remaining made it 3-1 before Jarnkrok's empty-net goal 25 seconds later finished the scoring.
The Predators held the Jets to five power-play shots on four opportunities. Nashville's penalty kill started the game tied for 26th in the NHL.
"I thought that our penalty kill was really, really good," Predators center Mike Fisher said. "We pressured them hard. It didn't feel like they could get zone time and create even momentum from shots. It can turn in either direction on the penalty kill, and I thought we turned it the right way."
The Predators were 0-3-1 in their previous four road games.
"We just need a little bit of success in some areas," Smith said. "We've been working hard to try to fix things, and that starts with moving our feet."
Laviolette said, "We've got to be consistent with what we're doing. There are a lot of things that go into it. We're at our best when we're playing with energy and we execute well. There's no question that it's just the first step to getting something going in the right direction. Now you've got to build off it."
The Jets power play has gone three games without a goal (0-for-8) and the penalty kill has allowed a goal in five of the past six games.
"[The power play] didn't get the job done for us," said Jets defenseman Tyler Myers, who plays on both special teams. "It is something that we have been addressing, but we're just going to continue to have to work hard at it.
"You can survive a bad power play, but we've been giving [up] too much on the penalty kill. I think that's the bigger issue."
A visit from the New Jersey Devils on Saturday continues the Winnipeg homestand. Maurice refused to attribute the recent slump to injuries.
"We've got enough good players," he said. "You're going to have injuries."