PK Subban gave a passionate defense of teammate Pekka Rinne, who has come under fire for struggling in the Nashville Predators’ series against the Winnipeg Jets.
Rinne was pulled just over 10 minutes into a 5-1 Game 7 loss to the Jets after allowing two soft goals out of the seven shots he faced. It was his third time being pulled in the series, which has led to plenty of criticism for the Vezina Trophy finalist.
After the game, Subban backed his goalie and reminded critics that Rinne is a big reason for Nashville’s success.
P.K. Subban with a passionate defense of his goaltender Pekka Rinne following a loss in Game 7 pic.twitter.com/ykezFzdNPK
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) May 11, 2018
“Critics that want to criticize him don’t know what they’re talking about,” Rinne said. “I don’t care if they played in the NHL or not. He’s the backbone of our hockey club. He’s one of the main reasons why we’re here. Could we have all been better today? Yeah, we didn’t do enough. I felt at times that they had their whole team going and we didn’t. I think everybody could’ve played a lot better, could’ve given more.
“I’m sick and tired of people always talking about him. He’s the backbone of this team and the main reason why we’re here. You talk about top goaltenders in the league … we’re lucky to have one of them.”
That’s probably exactly what Rinne needs to hear in order to build his confidence after two straight postseasons haven’t gone the way he’s wanted. Last year in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Penguins, Rinne allowed four goals in each of the first two games. He allowed three in Game 5 and got pulled early. The Predators lost that series in six games. Rinne allowed 21 goals in seven games against the Jets, which wasn’t good enough to get the job done. At least he isn’t making any excuses.
