Rinne makes 47 saves, Predators defeat Canadiens

MONTREAL -- Pekka Rinne made 47 saves, including 10 in overtime, and the Nashville Predators defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 in a shootout at Bell Centre on Saturday.

Rinne is 9-0-1 in his past 10 starts.
"We need to play a lot better in front of him and there's definitely things that we can do better," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "But that didn't happen, so we relied on our goaltending and he was outstanding. He was incredible tonight."
WATCH: [All Predators vs. Canadiens highlights]
Scott Hartnell and Kevin Fiala scored, and Ryan Ellis scored the winner in the shootout for Nashville (33-12-9), which is 4-0-2 in its past six games and leads the Central Division with 75 points.

"For me, the most important thing was getting the two points," said Nashville defenseman P.K. Subban, who played his second game in Montreal since he was traded to the Predators on June 29, 2016.
Brendan Gallagher and Jonathan Drouin scored, and Carey Price made 30 saves for Montreal (22-26-7), which has lost two straight and is 4-6-3 in its past 13 games.
With Price pulled for an extra skater, Drouin tied the game 2-2 with 1:14 left in the third period on a slap shot from the left point that went over Rinne's right shoulder on the short side.
"All I can say is we deserved a better result," Canadiens coach Claude Julien said. "I think we deserved to win that game. We did everything, and tonight there were two good goalies, and that kept the game tight. But I have nothing negative to say about my team, because from start to finish, we played a solid game. We did everything we could to win, and we should have won."

Gallagher scored to give Montreal a 1-0 lead at 8:35 of the second period. Artturi Lehkonen forced a turnover by Filip Forsberg in the neutral zone, and Gallagher got the puck and scored off a rebound between the circles after his shot was blocked by Subban.
Hartnell tied it 1-1 at 16:22. During a scramble in front of the net, Nick Bonino got the puck and slid a pass to Hartnell, who scored into an open net.
Fiala gave Nashville a 2-1 lead at 12:19 of the third period. Price made a diving save on Ryan Johansen, but he got his rebound and passed to Fiala, who scored on a backhand over Price's glove.

Goal of the game

Ellis' shootout goal.

Save of the game

Rinne's save on Victor Mete at 2:43 of overtime.

Highlight of the game

Drouin's goal at 18:46 of the third period.

They said it

"I didn't see a smile from him tonight, to be honest with you. I just saw the blood dripping down his face after he tried to hit me and fell down. So that's what I saw. I didn't see anything else. Other than that, it was just a normal game as usual. Just competing in the battles, and that's it. Just trying to outwork the other guy on the other side." -- Predators defenseman P.K. Subban on former teammate Brendan Gallagher
"It's just battling hard. He was talking, doing what he does. But I don't know why we're talking about him. That's kind of what he wants. He came in here and tried to make it about P.K. Subban, which is what he does. We're going to focus on our team. And we lost a game. Try and regroup, and go from there."-- Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher on P.K. Subban
"There's a reason he's one of the top five goalies in the NHL. He's got that size and that reach. The save he made on Nicolas Deslauriers in the third period is a good example. We played really well. We skated hard and created a ton of scoring chances." -- Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin on Pekka Rinne

Need to know

Hartnell's goal was his 699th NHL point (322 goals, 377 assists). … Fiala has five goals in his past five games. …Forsberg played in his first game following his three-game suspension for interference on New York Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey Feb. 3. ... Canadiens defenseman Jeff Petry played his 500th NHL game.

What's next

Predators: Host the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; FS-TN, FS-MW, NHL.TV)
Canadiens: At the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; ALT, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV)