PHILADELPHIA _ After erupting for a total of 13 goals in their previous two games, the Flyers' offense stalled Thursday night as Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne registered the 44th shutout of his career.
Predators 1, Flyers 0.
Colton Sissons finished an odd-man rush by beating Michal Neuvurth to the far corner, giving Nashville a 1-0 lead with 16 minutes, 11 seconds left in the game. Andrew MacDonald got caught up ice after taking a feed from Wayne Simmonds deep in the offensive end, and the Predators took advantage.
Rinne made perhaps his best save of the night when he kicked out Sean Couturier's shot from the slot with 3:58 remaining. Claude Giroux made a deft pass to set up Couturier.
The Flyers got a power play with 66 seconds to go and, with Neuvirth pulled for an extra attacker, had a six-on-four advantage. But they failed to get a shot during the power play as the Predators' defense excelled.
Nine nights after Nashville scored two late power-play goals in a wild 6-5 win over the Flyers, the teams played a tight-checking matchup that had little resemblance to their first meeting.
Sissons was injured and did not play in the teams' first matchup.
Rinne (28 saves) made nice stops on Couturier, Travis Konecny and Dale Weise in the first three minutes of the third period, but the Flyers' attack was stagnate for most of the night.
Neuvirth and Rinne were flawless in the first two periods. Each stopped 16 shots as the teams headed into the third period of a scoreless game.
The Flyers' power play was seventh in the league (clicking at 26.9 percent) entering he night, but they were 0 for 5 on Thursday.
The Flyers made some a lineup change because of an undisclosed injury to Jordan Weal, who participated in the morning skate but was unable to play Thursday night. Jori Lehtera, a healthy scratch in the first six games, made his Flyers debut and replaced Weal as the left wing on the second line.
With Weal sidelined, rookie defenseman Travis Sanheim, back in the lineup after sitting the previous two games, was given a spot on the second power-play unit.
Sanheim said it took him a few shifts to feel comfortable, "but I've had three other games here, so I'm used to the pace."
Sanheim replaced Brandon Manning. It'll be interesting to see if Manning is reinserted Saturday afternoon against visiting Edmonton and superstar center Connor McDavid. Manning and McDavid have had a well-documented public feud.
