You'd think that Pekka Rinne making 48 (!) saves would be enough for the Nashville Predators to win a hockey game. Somehow, it wasn't. The San Jose Sharks overcame that ridiculous number of blocked shots to defeat the Preds in overtime by a 2-1 score.
Sharks Vs. Predators: Pekka Rinne Makes 48 Saves, But San Jose Still Beats Nashville
Patrick Marleau scored the overtime goal on a breakaway after a bad Nashville turnover at the opposing blue line.
According to SB Nation’s Fear The Fin, this was the biggest game of the season thus far for the Sharks and they came out on top, despite Rinne’s magnificence.
Many of the San Jose Sharks players deemed tonight’s game to be the most important of the season. A multitude of reasons were given: it was the final game of the season’s longest road trip. It was against a team which was closely competing with the Sharks for a playoff spot. It came after two games in which the Sharks blew leads in the third period to lose in regulation against less than stellar competition.
Antti Niemi wasn't too shabby in the San Jose net either. He stopped 30 Nashville shots on his own. Cody Franson was the lone Predator that beat him. Devin Setoguchi scored the only Sharks goal in regulation. Nashville is now 0-4 in games decided in the overtime period.
Elsewhere in the NHL...
Canucks 4, Wild 1: Manny Malhotra put up a goal and an assist as Cory Schneider made 28 saves to boost the injury-riddled Canucks over the Wild. Schneider got the start largely in part to Roberto Luongo's lack of success against Minnesota this season, and as it turns out, that was the right decision.
Sabres 3, Canadiens 2 (SO): Jhonas Enroth stayed perfect in the shootout in his career as he notched his third win, this time in hostile, rival Montreal. Buffalo was down 2-0 in the game and 2-0 in the shootout yet still were able to pull out the victory. Jason Pominville and Drew Stafford led the charge for the Sabres, scoring the two regulation goals.
Islanders 4, Senators 3 (SO): Michael Grabner scored (again!) for the Islanders as the 14th place team squeaked by the East's 15th place team in Ottawa. The Isles don't look like a bottom-feeding team right now, though, as the win was their fourth straight in the most impressive stretch on the season for the club. Apparently that melee last week did a little more than just anger the Penguins. Oh, New York passed New Jersey into 13th with the win.
Oilers 4, Stars 1: Edmonton went streak busting on Tuesday night. Nikolai Khabibulin made 24 saves on 25 shots to snap a 14-game winless streak, which then allowed his team to snap a seven-game winless streak at home. Taylor Chorney's first NHL goal, a power-play tally in the second period, turned out to be the game-winner.
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