Predators Place Pekka Rinne on Injured Reserve

Rinne collided with teammate Kevin Fiala in Nashville's 5–3 win over Calgary on Friday. 
John Russell/NHLI via Getty Images

The Nashville Predators have placed goaltender Pekka Rinne on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury, the team announced Saturday.

Rinne left five minutes into the third period of the Predators' 5–3 win over the Calgary Flames on Friday after colliding with teammate Kevin Fiala as Sam Bennett tied the game for the Flames a couple minutes earlier. 

"We never want to see that happen to him. He's such a big part of our team and been playing really well to start the year here, following up from last year," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "But this is part of the game and it happens to all teams, so it's happening to us right now."

The Vezina Trophy winner is 3–1 with a .929 save percentage in five games started this season and had 15 saves before going down on Friday. Backup goalie Juuse Saros made nine saves as he finished the game in net for Nashville. 

There is no timetable for Rinne's return and the Predators have recalled goalie Miroslav Svoboda from the ECHL. 


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Kristen Nelson
KRISTEN NELSON

Kristen Nelson is an associate editor for Sports Illustrated focused on women's sports. Before joining SI in April 2018, she worked for NHL.com and the Adventure Publishing Group. She has a bachelor's in journalism from Penn State University.