Predators goalie Pekka Rinne pulled from Game 7 against Jets

Filip Forsberg leads Nashville with seven goals, Mattias Ekholm has seven assists and Ryan Johansen has 22 shots on goal.

A season of high expectations came screeching to a halt Thursday night in Smashville.

The Winnipeg Jets advanced to a meeting with the Knights on the strength of a 5-1 Game 7 victory over the NashvillePredators on Thursday night. Only questions, tears and hopes vanished.

During the regular season he collected comparable numbers to Rinne with a 44-11 record, a 2.36 goals against average and a.924 save percentage.

Winnipeg jumped out in front 2-0 on two soft goals just over 10 minutes into the game, and Nashville even pulled veteran goaltender Pekka Rinne after the second goal was allowed. “That’s tough to swallow”. Felt good, no injuries, totally healthy. But overall ups and downs through the playoffs.

“When you think about Game 7, as a team, as an individual, you’re just going to give it all and do your best and do it as a team and trust your teammates”, Rinne said Wednesday. The opening faceoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.

One cause for concern for Nashville is they might have seen this script already within this series with Rinne coming off a strong game only to struggle in the next one. There is no doubt fingers would be pointed at Rinne given his inability to match his strong regular season play.

“It’s nice to have that extra day”, Rinne said.

“Listen to me. Critics who want to criticize him don’t know what they’re talking about”. He is one of the primary reasons why we are here. One week ago we drove to Winnipeg, partied downtown with the locals and believed the Jets would win a high-flying contest. Yeah. We did not do enough. “This is one of those games where I think the crowd can have an impact on the outcome”. I mean, it comes down to that. “He’s produced big numbers and big plus-minus with two very young players on his wings, and played against good lines”. I am sick and exhausted of people constantly talking about (Rinne). He’s the backbone of this team. It probably got us the second goal.

If they do, their whole team will need to show up.

“Obviously, (I) feel responsible for the season ending at this point”, Rinne said. “They had 109 points”.

We just don’t know what that will be. YET. I mean, Game 7.

The series that killed home-ice advantage was decided – early – by one Vezina finalist who was dialed in, and one who was less so.

But Nashville met its match. Or Paul Stastny, the best trade deadline pickup, and his 14 playoff points. Nashville’s immovable object moved.

They had never survived past a second round since entering the NHL in 1979 with three other teams from the World Hockey Association, and now find themselves four wins shy of advancing to the Stanley Cup final. When the onslaught began, there was simply no answer to the unstoppable force. The Nashville Predators are averaging 3.2 goals per game and are scoring on 21.2 percent of their power play opportunities. “Both teams have proven they can win in both places”.