Predators’ Pekka Rinne pulled after Jets bury two early, ugly goals

Tyler Myers opened the scoring in Game 7 after Pekka Rinne’s stick was angled up to let the puck bounce past him.

Nashville Predators netminder Pekka Rinne had a nightmare start Thursday in Game 7 against the Winnipeg Jets and it quickly earned him a spot on the bench.

Rinne, the odds-on favourite to win the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goalie, allowed two goals on seven shots in the opening 11 minutes of the first period and Predators head coach Peter Laviolette made the decision to replace Rinne with Juuse Saros.

Tyler Myers squeaked one by Rinne from an ugly angle at 8:41 then several minutes later left his post too quickly and Paul Stastny beat him on a rebound at 10:47.

This is the third time this series that Rinne has been pulled. He got the yank in Game 1 after allowing three goals on 16 shots in 39:55 of playing time and was pulled again in Game 5 after giving up six on 26 shots in 46:23.

Prior to being called into action Thursday, Saros had stopped all 26 shots he faced in the post-season.

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