Red Wings Predators Betting – Can The Red Wings Solve Rinne And The Predators?

Some sports betting players were skeptical of Nashville’s chances to take out Detroit, but the Predators are now one game away from the second round of the playoffs and they’ve done it largely because of their goaltender, who has outplayed his Detroit counterpart. The Predators will try to eliminate the Red Wings on Friday night in Nashville.

The Predators were vastly outplayed in Game 3, but a sparkling 40-save performance by Pekka Rinne was the difference in a 3-1 win as Nashville won both games in Detroit. The Red Wings outshot the Predators 41-17, but Rinne stood on his head to keep Nashville in the game, then they got goals from Gabriel Bourque, Kevin Klein and David Legwand in the third period. Knowledgeable NHL betting sharps know about Rinne and he almost carried the Predators to a second-round win against Vancouver last season, but he has been superb in these playoffs and the Predators will need him to be at his best if they’re going to come out of the Western Conference. Nashville has a little more offense than before, but Rinne is the star of the show and he was brilliant in the second period when the Predators were outshot 17-3.

The Red Wings got a power-play goal from Jiri Hudler to tie the game up at one, and they have enough veterans that they probably aren’t panicking even being down three games to one, but they have to get a better effort out of Jimmy Howard, who stopped 14 of 17 shots. Howard has a .879 save percentage in this series and that simply isn’t good enough when you’re up against a goalie of Rinne’s caliber. But it isn’t just Howard; the Red Wings need players like Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg and be the best players on the ice if Detroit are going to live to fight another day.

NHL betting odds should have the Predators favored at home, where the teams split the first two games of the series, but Rinne has gotten better as the series has gone on, while Howard seems to be getting worse and that isn’t good news for the Red Wings. Nashville knows as well as anyone that a hot goalie can go a long way in the playoffs, and they’ve vastly improved their team around Rinne, but their goalie is still the key to what they do. The Predators snuck into last year’s postseason and were thought of a feel-good story; this year, Nashville is a legitimate candidate to come out of the Western Conference and they’ll get a little rest by shutting down this series in five games. Take the Predators on Friday night in your online betting picks.