Rinne, Simmonds Combine to Push Preds Past Maple Leafs

Wayne Simmonds got his first, and Pekka Rinne did his thing.
The winger and goaltender combined to shut out the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night to give the Predators their third-consecutive victory.
It's the first three-game win streak for the Preds since Jan. 21 to Feb. 1, and they also finished off a season sweep of the Leafs, becoming the first team to not surrender a single goal against Toronto in a single season (a minimum of two games) since 1992-93.

Translation - the Predators had Toronto's number this season, and Tuesday's result continued a streak of satisfying results.
"We are aware of our opponents and what they're doing, and we expected their best," Preds forward Brian Boyle said. "They pushed us at times, but for us to make plays at big times and to get a big home win, start getting some good feelings back here in this barn, [it feels great]. Especially this time of year, chips are down a little bit and games seem to be a little more important even though they're just the two points. It's good to come in and have a nice effort and make a statement."
The Predators held onto a 1-0 lead through the game's first 40 minutes, and the strike came less than five minutes into the contest when Boyle blasted home his fifth goal since joining the Preds.

On the play, Ryan Johansen collected his 48th assist of the season to set a career high. The helper also set a Predators franchise record for centermen and is just six away from tying the all-time record for assists in a single season, set by Paul Kariya (54, 2005-06).
Boyle's tally carried into the final frame, and just when it seemed as though the Maple Leafs would finally tie it, Rinne's pad and blocker came lunging across to rob John Tavares for one of the more miraculous stops of the season to keep Toronto off the board.
Then, just a few minutes after Rinne's robbery, Ryan Ellis fed Simmonds in front, and the man they call Wayne Train went down to one knee to one-time his shot to the back of the net for his first with the Preds.

"It's a great feeling - I thought I was never going to score again," Simmonds laughed. "At the end of the night, we played hard and got the two points we needed. It was a strong 60-minute effort from our team."
"Players are proud, they want to come in and play and make a difference, and he has done some really good things for our team," Predators Head Coach Peter Laviolette said of Simmonds. "He's been physical, he's fought a couple of times, and stuck up for his teammates and been a positive person and influence in the room and on the ice. He brings a lot of attributes, he's had some chances around the net and they haven't gone for him. I think that can kind of start to wear on you a little bit, so it was really nice to see him get rewarded."

Filip Forsberg iced it with an empty-netter at 17:51 and Rinne remained perfect to record his fourth shutout of the season and lead his team to their 42nd triumph of the campaign.
"We're starting to gel finally," Simmonds said. "We've added a few pieces, myself included, that needed to all get some practice time together. We're only going to continue to get better every single game so that we can go into the playoffs on a high note."
"It's a good start to hopefully something great," Preds Associate Captain Ryan Ellis said. "Three wins in a row is a step in the right direction, but we need to continue that. We only have eight games left and we need to feel our best going into the playoffs."

That's Peks For You:
Save of the game? Absolutely.
The week? Yes. The month? Sure thing. The season? When all is said and done, it'll be in the running for that, too.
Indeed, Pekka Rinne's save on John Tavares early in the third period, and then subsequent stops on Zach Hyman on the rebound elicited a standing ovation from the Smashville faithful and left his teammates shaking their heads.
"It seems like he just stops everything; it is unbelievable," Simmonds said of Rinne. "Him and [Juuse Saros] are great. Two of the best goalies in the League, and we're lucky have both of them."
To hear him describe the play - he called it "lucky" - wouldn't necessarily drive one to believe it was all that special. And although Rinne's done it before, that doesn't make it any less special when he does it again.
"That's Peks for you," Ellis said. "He's a humble guy. Terrific athlete, terrific goalie, and he'll call it luck 99 percent of the time, but there's not many guys making that save night in night out and he's one of them."

Notes:
Tuesday marked Pekka Rinne's 55th career shutout, moving him into sole possession of 22nd on the NHL's all-time list.
Predators forward Kyle Turris returned to the lineup after being scratched for the past two games. Frederick Gaudreau, Austin Watson, Cody McLeod and Matt Donovan were scratched for the Preds on Tuesday.
Nashville's quick two-game homestand wraps up on Thursday when the Pittsburgh Penguins come to town. The Preds will then head north for a crucial pair of Central Division contests in Winnipeg and Minnesota.