Rinne makes 29 saves, Predators shut out Jets

NASHVILLE -- Pekka Rinne made 29 saves, and Ryan Hartman had a goal and an assist for the Nashville Predators in a 3-0 win against the Winnipeg Jets at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday.

It was Rinne's first shutout of the season. The Predators (3-1-0) got their first win at home in their second try.
"It for sure feels good," Rinne said. "Early in the season and losing the first home game (3-0 to the Calgary Flames), nice response by all of us. Obviously, it's Winnipeg. We just lost against them in the playoffs, and for sure you could sense that. There was a lot of emotion on the ice. I thought that the first period was the fastest hockey so far this year."
WATCH: [All Jets vs. Predators highlights]
Winnipeg (2-2-0), which defeated Nashville in seven games in the Western Conference Second Round, is 1-2-0 on the road.
"I loved our first (period)," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. "I thought we were outstanding in the first. It's hard to critique the second. I though the penalty-killing was fantastic. We got behind it a bit and had to open the game up a little more than we'd want to, pushing for it, but lots of real good."
Hartman scored unassisted to give the Predators a 1-0 lead at 3:02 of the second period. He forced a turnover in the Nashville zone, outraced defenseman Dustin Byfuglien into the Winnipeg zone for a partial breakaway, and beat goaltender Connor Hellebuyck with a backhand on the blocker side for his first goal.
"It's nice to see him pick up the speed and pace of his game and get rewarded with a big goal tonight," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "I've thought his last couple games is really showing signs that he's coming."

Roman Josi made it 2-0 at 7:58 of the third period with a slap shot from the slot. Ryan Ellis tracked down the puck on the rush and passed it to Josi, who beat Hellebuyck for his first goal.
Ryan Johansen gave Nashville a 3-0 lead at 14:42. He took a pass from Viktor Arvidsson and deked around Hellebuyck on the backhand for his first goal.
"It felt good, a step we wanted to take," Johansen said. "We weren't happy with our home opener there, so it was a good bounce-back for our group beating a team that we're most likely going to have to go through in the playoffs. We gained some confidence from that."
Nashville went 0-for-9 on the power play with 11 shots on goal.
"We didn't execute very well," Josi said. "Just not making simple plays and getting simple shots. I think that was kind of the problem tonight. But I thought we had some chances too. Sometimes the puck bounces for you, and sometimes it doesn't."

They said it

"We were great on the [penalty] kill too. I mean we killed off a lot of penalties. Really the three goals were breakdowns, you know what I mean? Just things that we've got to clean up. But other than that, large chunks of it was good." -- Jets captain Blake Wheeler
"You've got to do a lot of things to manage that top line. Really the biggest thing is you've got to approach every shift being focused. If you take a shift off, those guys will make you pay. Just speaking for our line, when we were out there against them, I thought we did a good job of taking their time and space and making it hard on them." -- Predators center Ryan Johansen on defending the Jets' top line of Wheeler, Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor

Need to know

Connor's three-game goal streak came to an end. … The Jets begin a six-game homestand Sunday. … Winnipeg forward Mathieu Perreault played his 500th NHL game, and Ellis played his 400th. … Predators forward Colton Sissons won seven of nine face-offs (77.8 percent).

What's next

Jets: Host the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN360, SN1, FS-CR, NHL.TV)
Predators: Host the New York Islanders on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; FS-TN, MSG+, NHL.TV)