Pekka Rinne stopped 31 shots for his 42nd career shutout, leading the Nashville Predators to a 2-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.
Viktor Arvidsson and Ryan Johansen each had a goal and an assist to help Nashville win for the second time in three games.
Cam Talbot made 25 saves for Edmonton, which has lost two straight.
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Rinne, who had his second shutout of the season, beat the Oilers for the eighth straight time — including three shutouts.
Arvidsson scored the game’s first goal at 1:26 of the second period. He carried the puck up ice and sent a slap shot from the right faceoff dot high to the short side over Talbot’s glove for his 13th.
Johansen doubled the Nashville lead in the final minute of the second. With the puck just inside the Edmonton blue line, Filip Forsberg stickhandled past three Oilers players before sending a pass to Arvidsson at the right faceoff dot. There, Arvidsson slid a cross-ice pass to Johansen at the left dot, where he beat Talbot with a one-timer.
Early in the second, Rinne kept the game scoreless, making three consecutive saves on Edmonton defenceman Oscar Klefbom with the final two coming at close range.
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Rinne had to be sharp at the start of the third as well, stopping Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on a breakaway at 29 seconds.
NOTES: Nashville D Matt Irwin played his 200th career NHL game. … Johansen has four points in two games against the Oilers this season. … Nashville is 16-1-5 when scoring first. … Edmonton LW Milan Lucic played his 700th career NHL game. … The Oilers have not allowed a power-play goal against in their last four games.
UP NEXT:
Oilers: At Carolina on Friday night.
Predators: Host Detroit on Saturday night.
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