Pekka Rinne earned his 38th win as the Buffalo Sabres fell to the Nashville Predators on Saturday evening 3-0 in Nashville, Tennessee.
In the first period the Sabres were unable to capitalize on two power plays keeping the score knotted at 0-0 14:48 into the second period, Johan Larsson was whistled for a stick-holding minor penalty.
Four seconds into the penalty, Taylor Beck was able to put a shot passed Buffalo goalie Matt Hackett for the 1-0 advantage.
Beck’s goal was his seventh of the season, with assists from Shea Weber and Matt Cullen. The Sabres escaped the second period only yielding one goal on 13 shots by the Predators.
5:49 into the third period Nashville struck again as Craig Smith buried his 23rd goal of the season. Ryan Ellis and Cullen added assists on Nashville’s second goal on the evening.
Mike Fisher shut the door on any hopes for a Buffalo comeback as he connected on his 17th goal of the campaign. Ellis and Viktor Stalberg assisted on the third goal of the evening.
Hackett made 40 saves on 43 shots faced while his counterpart, Rinne stopped all 24 shots he faced. Nashville went 1-for-1 on its powerplay attempt while Buffalo finished 0-for-4 on the night.
With this loss, the Sabres drop to 20-45-7 on the season, with 47 points.
Buffalo travels to play the Dallas Stars on Monday evening at 8:30 p.m. from the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas.