Rinne Celebrated by Teammates, Fans as Preds Win Regular-Season Finale

Pekka Rinne has never been one to seek out the spotlight, but on Monday night in Nashville, he deserved it more than ever before.
The veteran goaltender stopped all 30 shots he faced to lead his club to a 5-0 victory over Carolina in the regular-season finale at Bridgestone Arena, and from the moment he stepped onto the ice for warmups, Rinne stole the show.
The chants of "Pekka, Pekka, Pekka" started early and went late into the night, and the cheers from the hometown faithful grew louder each time No. 35 made a save.

The culmination of an undoubtedly special evening in Predators' history saw Rinne mobbed by his teammates before taking a lap around the ice, saluting the fans who have supported him for over a decade, no matter the circumstances.
And what a night it was.
"Overwhelming, very special - I don't know if I can find the right words [to say] how much I appreciate our fans," Rinne said of the experience. "My relationship with the fans, this city, it means the world to me. I never want it to be about me. This team is going to the playoffs, and we have big things ahead, but I truly appreciate what happened tonight. It goes very high on my personal list, my experiences in hockey. I was emotional all day. My fiancee and my son were on the glass [during warmups], and I had a hard time keeping it together, and then during the game, same thing with the fans' reactions and all the signs and things like that. I love the city and love the fans, so it was very, very special."
The result gave Rinne shutout No. 60 to claim the 19th all-time spot in NHL history in the category, and his 369th career win allowed him to tie Tom Barasso for 19th all-time in League history.
Numbers aside, Monday's outing was filled with emotion for the 38-year-old Rinne, who said following the game he has yet to make any concrete decisions on what the future holds. But if this was it?
"If it is, I'm pretty happy," Rinne said. "Hopefully when that day comes, I'll be looking back on what happened [tonight], but I don't want to go too far ahead yet. We still have bigger and better things ahead, but if it is, I can't lie to you - it was a pretty cool game."
Matt Duchene, who scored two of Nashville's five goals on the night, was one of those teammates on the ice with Rinne congratulating the netminder on what will surely go down as a top moment in each and every member of this Predators team's career.
"It was incredible," Duchene said. "He's a special guy. He could have zero wins and zero anything as a hockey player, and he's still a special person. I've played about 100 games here now, and he's one of my favorite teammates I've ever had. He's just a great person, and I told him it's going to be awkward when he comes back next year we do it again in game 82."

The Predators certainly hope that's the case, and while the future remains to be seen, Rinne and his club remain focused on the present and a first-round meeting with the Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Playoffs that is set to begin this weekend.
Even though Juuse Saros figures to get the nod in Game 1, Rinne remains just as important as everyone else in that locker room.

"Here's a guy that's one of the best players ever to wear a Preds jersey, an ultimate pro, unbelievable person, fantastic player and he means so much to the organization, to the fanbase, to the team," Preds Head Coach John Hynes said. "Just the fact that he comes in, and look at the way he plays tonight - he hasn't played in a while, he comes in, he's ready to go, earned a shutout, had some big saves, but I think the big thing is what you can tell about a person is the way his teammates reacted to him at the end of the game and how hard they played in front of them. It's a special night for Peks, and he's not done. He's not done here. We got a great night for him, really glad that it went the way it did tonight, well earned by him, but we're going into playoffs here, and he's a big part of our team."
And back to that final postgame celebration for perhaps the greatest player in franchise history - not surprisingly, Rinne had to be coaxed into taking some extra time to enjoy the moment. But no one - not his teammates, and especially not the fans on their feet in Bridgestone Arena, who simply wouldn't leave - were about to let him depart without a chance to show their admiration for all he has done for this organization and this city.
What a moment, what a night and what a human who deserved every part of a show of love fit for a king.
On this occasion, Rinne wore the crown.
"It was unbelievable," Rinne said. "It caught me by surprise again, and it was so cool. I don't know whose idea it was that all the players came out on the bench, but I really appreciated it. I love my teammates, and there was a time I tried to tell the boys, 'Let's go back to the locker room, we have playoffs coming up.' I don't always feel comfortable in a spotlight, but again, after a while, I think it was Brad RIcharson, he told me to take a lap. It doesn't happen too often, so I'm glad I did. It was really unbelievable, and just the reaction from the fans really felt special."

Notes:
Prior to Monday's game, the Preds activated forward Mathieu Olivier from Injured Reserve. Forwards Michael McCarron and Rem Pitlick, defenseman Tyler Lewington and goaltender Kasimir Kaskisuo were recalled from the taxi squad.
Ryan Ellis, Colton Sissons, Luke Kunin, Mattias Ekholm, Ben Harpur, Calle Jarnkrok, Viktor Arvidsson, Alexandre Carrier, Erik Haula, Roman Josi, Mikael Granlund and Juuse Saros were scratched for the Preds.
With the 2020-21 regular season now complete, the Predators will turn their attention to their Round One meeting with the Carolina Hurricanes. The schedule for the series is expected to be announced in the coming days with Games 1 and 2 set to take place in Carolina before Games 3 and 4 shift back to Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Stay tuned to NashvillePredators.com in the days ahead for more information on the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs.