In last night’s 6-2 win over San Jose, goaltender Pekka Rinne recorded his 34th win of the season. Not only is that tops in the NHL, but it set a new single-season career-high for Rinne.

“There are always goals that you set for yourself before and during the season; it always depends on how everything’s going,” Rinne said after the game. “Those are things that you are aware of, but our aim as a team is higher.”

Rinne made 32 saves in the win, including all 16 shots he faced in a pressure-packed third period. The Preds only recorded three shots in the third – two of which were goals, one an empty netter – and seemed to play more conservative. Rinne came up large in the final frame with the Sharks pressing to get closer.

The Sharks appeared to get within one goal midway through the third period when Patrick Marleau scored. However, the referee whistled Joe Pavelski down for incidental contact, which prevented Rinne to get in position to make the save. Sharks head coach Todd McLellan was visibly upset with the call, but Rinne was glad to see it go his way.

“We got a little fortunate there,” Rinne said of the play. “The end of my stick got caught against (Pavelski’s) body, so I had to rotate my whole body and give up an open net. For us that was a good call and it was nice to get that.”

Rinne has once again been a workhorse for the Predators this season. If it weren’t for first half injuries last year, he would have tallied more than just the 33 wins he ended up with. Still, of the eight goalies that have started 50-plus games here in 2010-11, Rinne has the highest winning percentage (34 wins in 56 starts; .607%).

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The Morning After:
Yesterday’s results:
Predators 6, Sharks 2

Smashville 24/7 3 stars of the night:
1. Shea Weber, NSH (2 goals)
2. Joe Pavelski, SJ (1 goal, 1 assist)
3. Pekka Rinne, NSH (32 saves)

Recaps around the blogosphere:

Play of the game:
http://nhl.cdn.neulion.net/u/videocenter/embed.swf