NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Pekka Rinne made 17 saves for his fifth shutout of the season, and Colin Wilson, Jason Arnott, and Patric Hornqvist each had a goal and an assist in the Nashville Predators' 5-0 victory over Minnesota on Thursday night.
Nashville won its fourth straight, ending Minnesota's winning streak at three.
J.P. Dumont and Marcel Goc also scored for Nashville.
Entering Thursday, Minnesota was 10th in the Western Conference standings, six points behind eighth-place Detroit, but any hopes of gaining ground on the Red Wings were dashed early as the Predators struck for three goals in the opening period.
Wilson opened the scoring at 7:07. Inside the Nashville blue line, Wilson blocked a shot by Minnesota defenseman Nick Schultz.
ADVERTISEMENT
Wilson then carried the puck into the Wild zone along the right side before cutting to the middle and slipping a wrist shot by goalie Josh Harding on the far side.
Just under 2 minutes later, Dumont beat Harding with a shot from the high slot.
With 39 seconds remaining in the first, Arnott's shot from the right boards beat an out of position Harding.
Goc scored at 2:19 of the second, and Hornqvist connected on a power play at 7:35 of the third.
Rinne was tested early, seeing nine Minnesota shots in the first period, but saw just four in the second and four in the third to record his 12th career shutout
Wade Dubielewicz replaced Harding in the Minnesota goal to start the third period.
NOTES: Nashville improved its record against Northwest Division opponents to 12-7-1 ... Wild D Greg Zanon played in his 300th career NHL game. Zanon's first 230 games were played with Nashville. ... Nashville C Dustin Boyd had an assist for his first point as with Nashville. ... Predators RW Martin Erat had two assists to extend his points streak to three games.