The New Jersey Devils’ Andy Greene in action against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday. (AP-Yonhap News)
DETROIT (AP) ― Pekka Rinne made the Detroit Red Wings’ dominant performance meaningless.
Rinne made 40 saves, and Kevin Klein scored a go-ahead goal 6:25 into the third period, lifting the Nashville Predators to a 3-1 win over Detroit on Tuesday night and a 3-1 lead in the first-round Western Conference playoff series.
“Usually, the game gets easier when you face more pucks,” Rinne said.
Nashville can eliminate Detroit in Game 5 on Friday night at home.
“Now we’re in a tough situation,” Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. “We’ve got to go down to Nashville and win one game.”
Predators rookie Gabriel Bourque broke a scoreless tie 1:55 into the third period. Detroit’s Niklas Kronwall tied it 1:19 later with a power-play goal that was waved off on the ice but reversed by video review.
The Red Wings pulled goalie Jimmy Howard to add an extra skater with 1:31 left, but had to put him back in the net because Henrik Zetterberg was called for high-sticking with 55.8 seconds left. David Legwand’s power-play goal sealed the win with 39 seconds left.
Rinne stopped the first 29 shots he faced, including a kick save on Lidstrom’s slap shot at the end of the second period.
Florida 4, New Jersey 3
Phoenix 3, Chicago 2
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
