NASHVILLE, March 10 (UPI) -- A 19-save effort by Pekka Rinne gave him his sixth shutout of the season Thursday and brought the Nashville Predators a 4-0 win over Minnesota.
The Predators jumped past both Minnesota and Anaheim in the tight Western Conference playoff race, leaving them in ninth place and just one point out of a post-season spot.
It was the 20th shutout in Rinne's five-year career, all of it spent with Nashville.
Joe Ward and Nick Spaling scored 44 seconds apart to give the Predators a 2-0 lead just 4:01 into the contest. Martin Erat added a goal late in the first and Spaling tacked on his second goal of the game with 5:01 to play in the third.
Nashville won for just the second time in five contests.
Niklas Backstrom took the loss while stopping 27 shots. It was the fourth setback in six games for the Wild.
The teams completed their season series with Nashville having won three out of four.
