Ville Husso made 26 saves for the Detroit Red Wings in their third straight win, 3-0 against the Nashville Predators at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on Wednesday.
It was Husso’s third shutout in 13 starts this season. He is the first Red Wings goalie to have three shutouts in his first 19 games of a season since Jimmy Howard in 2011-12.
Filip Hronek scored for the third straight game and had an assist for the Red Wings (10-5-4), who have allowed five goals during the winning streak.
“The guys were unbelievable in front of me tonight,” Husso said. “Once you make one save, it makes it easier to make the next one.”
Kevin Lankinen made 26 saves for the Predators (9-9-2), who went 0-for-3 on the power play and had their five-game point streak end (4-0-1).
“I thought we had a good effort tonight and we deserved better than to get shut out,” Nashville coach John Hynes said. “I thought we had some good looks at 5-on-5 and some good looks on the power play, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. You play pretty well. [but] don’t get the result.”
Video: NSH@DET: Larkin nets first goal of the game in the 2nd
Dylan Larkin gave Detroit a 1-0 lead at 4:09 of the second period with a wrist shot from the left face-off dot. It was Larkin’s team-leading 23rd point (nine goals, 14 assists) in 19 games.
“He’s our No. 1 center, so he’s going to be playing in every situation,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “He’s limiting his turnovers and he’s limiting his mistakes in the [defensive] zone. That’s what you need from your top player. He’s committed to doing things correctly and he’s getting rewarded.”
Nashville had a 5-on-3 man-advantage for 1:36 shortly after Larkin’s goal, but Husso made several key stops to keep the Red Wings in front. He made 12 saves in the second.
“When you are down two guys, you need your goalie to be the best player on the ice and [Husso] was,” said Larkin, the Red Wings captain. “He made some big saves, and the crowd was going crazy. I thought that gave us a lot of energy.”
Predators captain Roman Jose thought Husso’s performance on the 5-on-3 changed the game.
“Towards the end, we had a couple of good looks and a couple of good one-timers, and he made some big saves,” Josi said. “If you get almost two minutes at 5-on-3, you’ve got to find a way to score.”
Video: NSH@DET: Hronek fires into traffic for a PPG in 2nd
Hronek made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 14:16. He has five goals and three assists during a five-game point streak.
Michael Rasmussen scored an empty-net goal with 21 seconds left in the third period for the 3-0 final.
Detroit held Nashville to seven shots in the third.
“After our special teams and our goalie bailed us out in the second period, we didn’t have a very good 40 minutes,” Lalonde said. “I thought we were much better in the third.”
Video: NSH@DET: Husso backstops Red Wings to 3-0 shutout
NOTES: Dominik Hasek (2006-07) is the only other Red Wings goalie with three shutouts in his first 19 games since Eddie Giacomin in 1976-77. … Hronek is the first Detroit defenseman to score five goals in a five-game span since Nicklas Lidstrom in 2010 (Dec. 15-23). … The Red Wings are 25-11-1 with two ties at home on Thanksgiving Eve. They went 16-7 with six ties on Thanksgiving Day, playing after the traditional Lions football game, before moving their game to Wednesday in the 1970s. … Josi led the Predators with five shots on goal in 26:05 of ice time.
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